Chapter 31

After a few moments of running with the spirit boy, her let go of her hand. After running and running finally he'd come to a stop, and Mai fell to her knees and began inhaling and exhaling heavily. The spirit was mentally nagging for her to get up, but Mai needed to recover a bit.

"Kohaku. Please. Give me a minute. I've used a lot of physical energy to follow you, and even more psychic energy to continue to communicate with you." Mai said out loud and as requested the boy waited beside her patiently.

Once Mai collected herself briefly and rose dusting off her nightgown. She left in such a rush she didn't have time to change into more sensible clothing. The grass below her feet was wet and cold but felt good after the run she'd just had. As she cooled, she began to shiver, and her close proximity to the spirit boy wasn't doing much for her comfort either.

"Alright. Show me. I'm ready." Mai said.

"What?!" Ayako and John flinched.

"She just ran off with the sp-" John repeated but was quickly cut off by his snarling employer.

"I heard exactly what you said John. How could you let her do this?" Naru asked his tone lethal.

"It's not our fault okay! John was too caught up holding that thing back, and I was placing another barrier around the house. Everything you requested we do Naru. So don't take it out on us!" Ayako responded disdainfully.

"Don't act like the two of you are guiltless! Are you unable to make any important decisions for yourselves? We could have handled the spirit, but we now also have to retrieve Mai. Why do you think I had Monk place the barrier on this floor? So if the first one fell through we'd be safe. Do you get it now? Our team members are indispensable." Naru scolded.

A knock on the base door diverted all attention as stepped in clad in his night clothes.

"Sorry to interrupt, but is everything alright? We've heard quite the bit of movement this morning and I wanted to check in." He inquired looking around and noticing very easily what the problem might be.

"One of our team members is currently missing so we'll be splitting up our team to go and retrieve her. All precautions have been taken otherwise to protect you and your family from further disturbances I promise. How is your wife?" Naru responded quickly regaining his professionalism.

"I was worried to let her sleep with the head injury, but she did wake a few minutes ago and was doing alright. Thank you for asking. Do you need anything to help in your search? Do you want me to call the police?" Mr. Kinjo displayed his concern.

"That's quite alright. Mai actually has a hard time following directions, and we deal with this kind of behavior from her often. I'm sure we'll find her." Monk replied hoping the authorities wouldn't be called.

"Are you sure? I may be watching over my wife, but my son may at least be able to help you search. It isn't difficult to get lost around her at night." He warned.

"It's alright. We aren't exactly amateurs ourselves. We have a map of the area, and should be able to navigate the terrain smoothly enough." Yasuhara informed as he was currently writing on a map and confirming the location of the old residence. The young researcher had only returned a few minutes ago and was already working hard to prep for the retrieval mission.

"I see. I believe you have it under control, but it would at least give me some piece of mind if you all considered waiting an hour or two for the sun to rise. That way you'll have a more successful excursion." Mr. Kinjo pleaded once more.

"We will take your advice into consideration. Thank you, Mr. Kinjo." Naru said and bowed quickly to the man. Mr. Kinjo bowed in return as he exited the room.

"He does have a point Naru. It's a little over an hour until sunrise. Should we wait until then to start our search? I'm worried about Mai, but it doesn't do us any good if we get lost." Ayako said glancing over to the chair by the window where Mai sat a couple hours ago.

Naru remained silent weighing out his options.

The grass was quite tall here and there were a few small trees in the area. Mai could tell by the difference in height in the vegetation and the surrounding wooded area just how wild the area had become.

"Is this where your house was Kohaku?" Mai asked and the spirit nodded. He wondered forward again and stood still over a certain spot as if to beckon her over. Mai followed suit and stood with him.

"And this is where your body is." Mai stated more than asked. She could feel his deep sadness when standing over this spot. Her throat tightened as a result, but she resolved to control her emotions.

"Now you see I have to save him or he'll die too." The specter spoke for the first-time surprising Mai hearing him speak outside of her dream realm.

"Kohaku. Please hear me out. What your parents did to you was awful. I sympathize with what you are feeling, but the other Kohaku is alright. His parents wouldn't harm him." Mai said and the spirit's face turned angry.

"I thought the same before I was burned alive, and now I know better." He said as his visible featured began to turn into the dark shadow that she saw now.

"Kohaku stop and listen to me!" Mai yelled. Before his entire body turned crisp black, he turned to her once again.

"Don't you see that you are suffering and I'm trying to help you pass on?! It hurts me to see you like this, and I want to you to pass on and be happy! Please let me help you. I don't want you to relive what happened to you again. I saw it with my own eyes through you and it was dreadful! You don't have to suffer anymore. "Mai yelled again and noticed the reluctant change in his aura.

"But what about the boy?" He said sadly.

"I will take care of him and make sure nothing bad happens to him. Just like I'm helping you. So trust me. It's your time to move on from this place. Aren't you tired of being stuck here? Don't you want to go somewhere better?" Mai said and moved forward to hold him. His body froze and stiffened, but Mai did her best to hug his transparent form.

"I'm scared. It hurts here." He spoke quietly and Mai released him and looked into his eyes.

"Don't worry. I've helped other spirits pass on before, and I'm sure you'll do fine. Now close your eyes and move towards the light. Forget all of your negative emotions and let your body become lighter." Mai said calmly. Mai could see Kohaku's spirit lightening and they were both enveloped in warm light.

Then he was gone.

Mai wiped away a single tear and shivered harshly. She was absolutely drained. She had barely slept this entire case, spiritually she was absolutely spent, she'd had more than her fair share of cardio chasing the specter, and now she sat down in complete darkness without an illuminated spirit to guide her back. Mai sat down on the ground and sighed loudly before she began to brainstorm.

'I'm sure the others will be out looking for me soon if they haven't started already. Yasuhara might also have the coordinates of the where the house is located. Chances are if I wait I'll be found, but it's so cold and I'm only in my nightwear. If I don't start walking soon, I might get sick. I might have enough energy to find the general direction of the house, but I probably won't be able to keep it open for long.'

Mai closed her eyes and searched for the aura of her friends. There were a few animal presences, which she immediately neglected and searched further until she recognized the brightly burning PK filled narcissist aura in the distance. Mai stood up and opened her eyes and placed her necklace back on, much to her relief she felt a little better. She continued forward in the direction she sensed her boss's aura, and hoped she'd be back by sunrise.

Naru decided to wait until dawn to search for his wayward assistant, but now in the far distance a dainty dawn covered the entire landscape and he, Monk, and Yasu were ready to go searching.

"Alright, I just uploaded a compass app, and I've the map all marked out. Let's go." Yasu said as the three made their way down the porch. Ayako and John stood in the doorway to see them off, and they would remain at the house just in case the spirit returned. Lin was in base minding the monitors as per usual.

"Alright we got to start off just around the barn and it's a pretty much a straight walk from there." Monk said look at the map from behind the college student.

"Wait Kazuya! Is that…Mai?" John asked and the entire group shifted their heads sharply to see the young barefoot girl approaching looking a mess. She was clad in her pajama shorts and t-shirt, but her legs were covered in scrapes and dirt. Her hands were also covered in mud, and her eyes told a story of fatigue and apprehension.

Mai wordlessly approached them and stopped directly in front of her fuming employer. Before he could say anything, Ayako marched forward in between them.

Mai was a bit startled and looked up at her just in time to feel the sting of her hand across her face. Mai looked back at her with an icy glare and noticed Ayako's own eyes rivaled Naru's.

"I told you not to leave and you disobeyed me. You need to grow up and realize that when you run off on your own that you might not be the only one who gets hurt. We were all worried sick about you and couldn't start looking for you until the sun came up. I understand that you are hurting right now, and I will give you your time to grieve. But I will be damned if I watch you go off on your own on some righteous suicide mission. Damn it Mai! Lean on us! Trust us to help you. You can't do it all on your own." Ayako finished admonishment as the Mai narrowed her eyes at her.

"I just did. The spirit is gone. You're welcome." Mai said seemingly unaffected by Ayako's words and walked passed all of them without so much of a glance and into the house.

"Well, that could have gone better." Monk said rubbing the back of his head. Ayako yelled out in frustration and kicked the ground.

"Ugh! I don't know how to handle her anymore Houshou!" Ayako said frustrated and Monk put his hands out in front of him.

"Hey, don't look at me. She gave me the same treatment yesterday when I tried to talk to her." Monk said nervously.

"Do you think what she said is true? Did she really cleanse the spirit?" Yasuhara asked.

"There's only one way to find out. We'll have to go to the site where his home was and check. Then stay another night to make sure." John suggested.

"Yasu, give me the map and your phone and give John your backpack. Stay here and with Ayako and make sure Mai doesn't leave again. Let Lin know Mai is back. Monk and John, let's go." Naru said and the trio set off again.

Kasai stood over the grave and smiled to himself.

It had only been a few days and he was doing his best to keep up appearances, but he was already tired of it. He had taken the week off from school, which he imagined would be extremely relaxing, but was filled with his mother's incessant nagging. He just had to get out of the house and told his mother he was going to the graveyard. It wasn't a lie, but he was doing anything, but thinking about the rotting corpse beneath him. Kasai sat down just in front of the flower-filled grave and sighed aloud.

One good thing about his time off was he'd had plenty of time to plan his next move on Mai.

Of course, he wouldn't be able to act quite yet, but he'd been searching for any living relatives and of course, her mother was an only child. Her father had never introduced Mai and her mother to the rest of the family because he'd been disowned by his father before he died. Apparently, he'd had a bright future in a business firm, but was fired and married a penniless woman, which was Mai's mother. The girl had no contact with her deceased grandparents and it would seem there weren't many other ways to get to her but through her friends.

'I'm no fool. I know that her coworkers are proficient in private investigations, so it would be very difficult to get to them without causing too much of a ruckus.' Kasai thought to himself frustrated.

"Oh Keiko. I wish you were here to run your mouth and give me all the information I needed. Gone too soon." He said sarcastically and stood up having his fill of 'fresh air'. Suddenly it hit him and he began to smile.

~~One month prior~~

"That movie was so sad! I'm sorry that I cried so much! "Keiko apologized bowing to her date. He immediately shook his hands in front of him.

"No worries. I heard some girls talking about the movie at work the other day and they said they liked it. I should be the one apologizing. I thought you'd like it." Kasai replied scratching the back of his head.

"I did! It just reminded me of my friend Mai a lot. When her parents died she used to live with her teacher who helped her get out of her depression and aggression. The teacher in the movie reminded me so much of Mai's temporary guardian. It just hit me in a soft spot I guess." Keiko explained and Kasai nodded not hiding his smile about the new information.

"Well next time we'll see a comedy!" Kasai said and put his arm around Keiko.

~~FIN~~

'Ahhh ...yes. She would be very close to her teacher too.' Kasai thought and smirked devilishly.

Mai stood in the shower and let the warm water remove the numbness from her limbs, the dirt from her skin, and wipe the thoughts from her mind. She didn't want to think about how her best friend was very dead or that her coworkers were very angry with her, or how very exhausted she was. For a few minutes she just wanted to exist, feel no pain, and have no thoughts or emotions. She wanted to become like the trees, or sediment; just an inanimate object. Mai moved her head under the shower head, and opened her eyes and looked at her hands.

'I'm starting to shrivel up. I should get out.' Mai shut off the faucet and stepped out of the shower and dried off. Luckily, Ayako wasn't in the room so she would have a small break from the outside world. Mai got dressed for the day, but exhaustion caught up with her once she sat on her bed. Mai allowed her body to lay on the bed and let sleep consume her.

Before she could be consumed by it there was a knock on the door startling her in her relaxed state.

'I could pretend to be sleeping.' Mai thought and ran with it as the door opened and she closed her eyes. Suddenly to arms were on her shoulder and shook her violently.

'So much for that idea.' Mai thought sarcastically but didn't open her eyes.

"What?" Mai said sharply.

"Did you really get rid of the spirit? Or were you just trying to get rid of your boss?" Kohaku asked her skeptically when Mai finally opened hers. She narrowed her eyelids and slapped his hands off of her shoulders.

"Why don't you ask me when I'm not trying to catch up on my sleep? Don't you have to go to school or something?" Mai asked the kid clad in his uniform.

"Answer the question damn it!" Kohaku huffed and groaned.

"Fine! Yes, I did! Now get out." Mai said curling back onto the bed.

"How do I know yo-" Kohaku started, but Mai rose again to cut him off.

"Listen you spoiled little brat. My boss is currently gathering all the information you're asking about and will brief your family thoroughly tomorrow. Now unless you want your mom to find out about your black lungs, I suggest you leave and wait until then." Mai said and Kohaku immediately lost all of his thunder. He backed away with a disappointed look and exited the room. Mai exhaled and flopped back onto the bed, she hoped for the last time.

'Note to self. In the future, stay away from all boys named Kohaku.' Mai thought and was finally able to get to sleep.

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