Chapter 47
He couldn't breathe.
But that was okay.
He'd felt like he couldn't breathe for the past three days. Why was this any different? The water sloshed around his face cooling and numbing his cheeks and neck. He rose from the sink breathing in slowly and looking at himself in the mirror.
Naru eyed the bruise he'd received from Ms. Eto's shikigami in his reflection. It was a deep purple with hints of orange and blue like storm clouds. He only spared it a glance.
There was a knock at the door. Lin came in and noted his drenched appearance.
"The police are here. Clean yourself up." Was all he said and closed the door behind him. Naru yanked the rough brown paper towels from the dispenser and dried his face and hands quickly. He drained the sink water, buttoned up his collar, and straightened his shirt.
Naru left the bathroom and strode back into base with his usual cocky air. Two police officers stood in front of Father Brown as he recounted the events as best he could. Lin was leaning against the wall in the corner. He had to assume that Takigawa and Ayako were being interviewed separately by the other two officers while the final two were collecting clues from around the school. Masako sat in the corner, her eyes dull and lifeless making her look even more like a porcelain figurine than usual.
The news of her death came as a surprise to them all.
The team was licking their wounds in base, when the first police car showed up. After that Masako could sense the spirits returning back to the school one after another.
They were even more surprised to hear that Yura Eto was involved in a fatal car accident on her way home from work that evening.
Autopsy results weren't available yet, but early signs pointed to a cerebral aneurysm. After the wreckage and the demolished traffic poll was cleaned up, the police headed back to the school for signs of foul play.
They were questioned for hours well into the nights and handed over the footage of their last interactions with the woman before the police dismissed themselves. The principal had even shown up around 3 am and was informed of the what transpired by the authorities. The head police investigator did relay it did not appear to be foul play, but because of the phone call and information they received earlier that day from the principal himself, suspicions had arisen.
Ayako and Lin both hypothesized and agreed the sudden cause of death was most likely the result of the guidance counselors rampant use of her spiritual abilities. Having as many shiki as she did was an impressive feat in itself. It required immense control and prowess to command and tame a single shiki gami. Let alone using so many simultaneously. Naru knew all too well what could happen once the human body began to buckle from and excess of spiritual power.
He walked that line every day.
"If a shikigami senses any weakness from its master it will turn. This was not the case for Ms. Eto. She must have strained her body to the bitter end to keep them under control. Most likely she was able to maintain control by growing her strength before capturing another shiki gradually." Lin explained.
"Similar to weight training? "Ayako drew the analogy and her colleague nodded.
"Exactly. To continue the analogy; think of dead lifting. When a person lifts a large weight for a short period of time but is unable to complete repetitions of the same amount of weight. Yura Eto was able to "dead lift" her shikigami when necessary. However, repetition from repeated encounters with us most likely caused her body to give out." Lin completed before the police called Ayako and Takigawa for questioning and prior to Naru's return to base.
The principle remained in base and brainstormed with the detective methods of reducing the police presence before the students and staff arrived. Naru could feel disgust pooling into his stomach as the principle squirmed to keep his image and private school profits in the clear. The investigator suggested shutting the school down for the day, but their client could only respond with self-concern. The man hadn't even asked about the wellbeing of SPR nor of any details of his deceased staff member.
He hadn't even had the balls to approach the owner of SPR after he'd abandoned them earlier that day. Naru eyed the principle warily, positive he could no longer trust the man. Client or not.
Naru's previous instructions were that the police were supposed to be called to the school and arrive during that confrontation. Naru handed over the footage and voiced his concerns, but in the end, the client neglected an important detail of his plan. If Yura Eto was still alive the team would be in dire straits in terms of contending with another onslaught from the counselor. Although, the main culprit of the crime was…no longer a liability that still left the school to cleanse.
Right now Naru had to realign his plan with the latest circumstances the school found itself in. While the main catalyst for the school's disappearances was gone; there were still the spirits of the 'missing' to contend with. He silently considered every possible method to remove the spirits and the new worst-case scenario. If Yura Eto's spirit followed the student's spirits back to the school, how could they deal with the vengeful ghost of an omniyoji?
All in all, his 24-hour plan was shot to hell.
His throat tightened and his fist clenched.
Mai.
"I will cleanse all of the students." Masako said standing and speaking for the first time during the entire night turned early morning. Naru was brought away from his furious notes in his black notebook. He sighed harshly and glared forward.
"Blanket statements of bravado will do nothing for us right now. We need structure and a new plan now that the spirits are returning." Naru spat viciously but his counterpart did not flinch.
"I'm not stupid Naru. You're worried about the guidance counselor's spirit returning to the school to reclaim the students. I should be cleansing them as we speak before anything like that can happen. More importantly, the overall severity of the situation at this institution has lessened, which is why I believe you and Lin should join Yasuhara. Your twenty-four hours is up." Masako commanded standing her ground firmly.
Naru threw her an incredulous look at the thought of him and Lin leaving the team.
"Abandoning my team is not a strategy for success. "He countered standing to meet her stance.
"We did not crumble when you left us before, and we surely will not now. Leave me in charge of the team while you go after Mai. I do not intend to follow some sort of half-baked plan again because you are too distracted to focus." Masako retorted quickly and John stood up and placed out his hand.
"Please Masako. We're all under a lot of pressure right now so-" John began but Masako was fed up.
At this moment Ayako and Takigawa returned to base, but only observed in awe. None of them had ever seen the medium so enflamed, let alone heard her raise her voice to anyone.
They never dreamed she would ever yell at Naru.
It was a sight to behold.
"No! I do not accept that the sole burden of all of this be placed on this distracted fool! Besides, ever since the news of Mai's disappearance the entire team has been off of their usual skill level. We all want this so badly we are neglecting the concentration and detail that would never pass us in previous investigations. I refuse to stand for this any longer! The only way both of these investigations can work is if Naru and Lin both go after Mai and the rest of us close this case. This momentary de-escalation is our chance to adjust for a more successful approach!" Masako crossed her arms over her chest daringly.
"She does have a point Naru. The four of us are more than enough to handle this now. Knowing Lin would go grey leaving you and Yasuhara together, it would be best for the two of you to go after Mai. To be honest, none of us were too keen on your first plan to begin with. I second this reallocation of SPR's staff." Ayako bolstered as she approached Masako in a show of support. Their boss stood silently for a moment as he processed a few possible results from splitting the team.
"And you John?" Naru inquired coldly. John seemed flustered, but then quickly cleared his throat.
"I..um.. also believe that all of us here are well equipped to close this case. We also have tremendous faith that the three of you are better served bringing Mai back home safely." John spoke carefully, but just as firm as his associates.
Naru fell to his seat quietly and continued to contemplate his next move. Lin remained at his perch in the corner of the room, drinking his bitter coffee, and watching Naru. He had to admit he could see the young man buckling under pressure as of late.
'It is time for you to grow Noll. I cannot be your hired help forever. You must learn to trust and depend on others.' Lin refused to step in and merely watched as real emotions passed over the boy's face.
"I accept this criticism of my leadership skills." Naru started slowly. "I will reevaluate with this reallocation in mind. First, allow me to call Yasuhara before I make a decision." Naru said briefly dismissing himself to make the call.
Masako sighed loudly and flopped backward onto the couch.
"Go Masako!" Ayako congratulated as she joined her fellow weary team mates around the coffee table.
"God. Please continued to guide us to safety and protect Mai from wicked intension." John prayed aloud.
Birds.
That was the first thing he acknowledged when he woke. The very edges of dawn were peeking through the surrounding trees and dancing on the kitchen floor. His head felt foggy and he was struggling to remember what exactly happened. His body was leaned against the cabinets behind him, and he pushed upwards to adjust his posture, but…
Pain.
He was in pain.
Not just his head either. His feet were burning profusely. Byakuya blinked away the fog and looked down at his feet. To his horror blood had pooled around his feet on the floor and two knives stood upright, one through each foot.
Not far away was a hammer, which he might have guessed was the tool of choice for wedging these knives through his feet. His eyes darted forward for a moment and noted that the hidden door where Mai once was stood wide open with the light left on.
'That little bitch.' He cursed.
Without hesitation, he yanked both steak knives out of his feet and screamed out. Byakuya reached up and yanked down the curtains from above the sink causing the entire curtain rod to come crashing down. Gingerly, he removed his boots and socks to inspect the damage. Although the knives were sharp the wounds were not wide, amounting only to two half-inch stab wounds through each foot.
Still, the throbbing persisted.
Ripping apart the curtains Byakuya wrapped each foot securely before reapplying his footwear. Looking at his watch he noticed that he couldn't have been out for more than 12 hours' maximum.
'With that girl's limited knowledge of the terrain, lack of food and water, and her injuries I should be able to catch her again within the next two hours. She's bound to have taken a rest and failed to cover her tracks, which will work to my advantage.' He quickly surmised pulling himself up to the counter, careful not to slip in his own blood and journeyed outside.
Behind the shed was a chain covered in leaves and other fallen debris. Yanking the chain revealed a set of cellar doors. Clumsily, Byakuya punched in the code in for the padlock to expose his stock of supplies. Pacing down the large ramp, he entered and grabbed a dust cover flashlight to trace the room. There were assorted animal furs, cured meats, jugs of water, bottles of alcohol, guns, crossbows, ammonium, animal traps, and all things liken to a hunter's dream arsenal.
He grabbed his pistol and two cartridges before heading back toward the front of the bunker. Ripping away another tarp he eyed the condition of his ATV and smirked. Normally, he'd enjoy the thrill of the hunt by tracing her paths and creeping up on his prey slowly.
Unfortunately, he was on a time crunch and had to address this misstep on his part swiftly.
"Ready or not." He murmured as the all-terrain vehicle roared to life.
He'd been able to eliminate Renkotsu Nanstu from his suspect list just because the boy was constantly posting his whereabouts and shirtless "selfies" all over his social media networks. Not only was it trivial to locate the boy, but Yasuhara found it difficult to believe that Kasai could rely on such a flamboyant character for covert operations.
It was also difficult to believe his mother could play a role in the kidnapping since she was still the head of household. Her attendance at work was a matter of survival for the two and it didn't appear that she'd been absent from her last paystub he'd found when "looking into" her employer's data base. Despite this fact, Yasuhara knew that there was still a strong possibility that Kasai's mother was privy to the details of her son's elicit activities.
The sound of his phone vibrating made his red brimmed eyes turn over to his cell phone. He sighed allowed and answered.
"Boss." Was all he could muster at the moment.
"State your progress." Naru shot back, his voice also sounding a bit tired.
"Kasai has still continued his movements to his usual schedule and made no suspicious phone calls in the last 24 hours. That leaves three possibilities. One, that Mai is dead and he disposed of the body; that way he has nothing to worry about. Second, she is locked away somewhere within his living quarters. Finally, he has an accomplice who is handling her until the police presence dies down." He explained and couldn't fight the inflection of his voice at the possibility of his beloved friends' untimely demise.
"She isn't dead." Naru said firmly.
Yasuhara exhaled and was grateful for his bosses' abilities.
"I eliminated the first two possibilities because of your visions and the fact that Kasai isn't foolish enough to hide her anywhere near his current residence. That leaves the accomplice theory. There were four possible candidates for the role of an accomplice that was present in recent "accidents", similar to Keiko's, that transpired in his past. Two remained from my vetting process whose approximate locations I was about to find on file. If you were able to give me any more hints on Mai's location, I'd be able to find a lead suspect. Also, I was able to run Mai's story on the local news last night, so hopefully some tips may come from the public." Yasuhara surmised as he grabbed his cold cup of coffee, sipping it in disgust.
"I see. On our end, our main suspect is deceased due to the misuse of her own spiritual abilities, which momentarily alleviates much of the immediate danger the staff and students faced. Therefore, a reallocation of our efforts for finding Mai is possible while the remaining team members cleanse the school." He addressed.
"D-dead?! What happened?" Yasuhara could do little to control his surprises as small voices in his mind feared exactly what his boss was capable of.
"Those details will be in the case file, for now, expect Lin and myself at the office by 10:00 am at SPR. "He spoke and hung up.
Yasuhara a bit flabbergasted and noted the time.
6:03
Deciding the schedule allowed two hours of rest before boarding the train he consolidated all of his research into organized sections before setting an alarm, and falling face first onto his mattress.
'Mai forgive me. I need to rest before I start again.' Yasu prayed silently.
As soon as daylight brought color to her surroundings Mai was moving through the forest landscape with renewed determination. The cruelty of reality did chip away at her resolve, but somehow, like always, she was able to keep going.
Mai was thrown off by how real her dream actually seemed. Luckily, her growling stomach and light headedness were much better at holding her attention. There were a few painkillers in her bag of supplies, but the effect of ingesting them on an empty stomach without water did not fare well in her mind.
'I must have been walking for more than three hours now and I haven't even stopped for a break. My ankles are so swollen… and the pain won't subside. Some of my welts feel like they've started to bleed too. Either that or I'm not as dehydrated as I thought and I'm sweating.' Mai chuckled despite herself as she continued to limp through the forest. Unbeknownst to her that her captor had begun to give chase.
'If there are Gods out there…I could sure use some real help right now.' Mai pondered weakly as more sweat collected onto her brow.
'Mai. He's awake and he's coming your way fast! No time to run, you've got to hide somewhere!' Gene spoke telepathically causing Mai's heart rate to increased tenfold. She looked around frantically, labored breathing, for a place to hide.
'Gene! What the hell! How did crazy mask catch up with me so quickly?! What direction is he coming from?' Mai spoke back, diving beside a fallen tree trunk and crouching low.
He was right.
Once she focused, she could sense an aura approaching quickly on the edges of her abilities.
'Never mind, he must be mobile somehow. I've got to let him pass me. How the hell did he even find me so quickly?' Mai quickly covered her legs and supplies with leaves and crouched low down. Soon her ears were akin to the sounds of a motor approaching fast.
Mai tried to slow her breathing without falling into total exhaustion. Now she was regretting not taking more care to cover her tracks this morning since she thought she gained enough distance from the cabin.
The sacrifice to cover more ground may become her undoing.
She couldn't undo the past.
The humming of machinery got closer and closer until it must have been mere meters from her when it stopped.
The motor cut out leaving a hollow wind song.
Mai could feel bile rising in her chest.
'No! Please! I didn't get this far just to be taken back! Or worse… he could kill me right out here in these woods!' Mai's thoughts began to spiral toward demise pretty quickly as a familiar crunch of feet over foliage grew louder. She wanted to pinch herself because the intense familiarity to her dream was uncanny.
All except it was her captor who was closing in instead of her rescuers.
"HEY! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" An unfamiliar voice yelled.
'Someone else is here?! Why didn't I sense them? I'm probably at my limit.' Mai conceded as she began to listen closely to this new party.
"Can I help you, old man?" Byakuya spoke rashly to the new stranger.
"Yes, you can young man. Now, I don't have many years left in these old ears. I like to enjoy peace and solitude on my morning walks. Why in tarnation are you driving around this noisy contraption so early in the morning?! Besides, a youngin' like yourself should be sleeping in this early. You got some kind of sleep apnea? My wife's got a machine you could borrow if that's the case." The old fellow complained.
"I'm hunting." Was all Byakuya replied ominously.
Mai slowly covered her mouth and could feel her fingers shaking over her lips.
"Huntin' you say? I think it's a bit early in the season for that. Don't start for another two weeks. Why don't the two of us strike a deal then? I got these family of deer that keep crapping in my yard and eating my young cucumbers. I'll pay ya 2000 yen to off the whole set. What do you say?" The old man offered pulling a bill from his pocket.
"No. I'm busy." Byakuya said shortly and began to walk toward his ATV once more.
"Well fine. Be that way. Just try not to make so much blasted noise around here in the morning anymore then. What kind of hunter approaches so loudly anyway? Scare all the deer away." The old man commented.
Byakuya sucked his teeth and started up his all-terrain vehicle again.
In moments he was off and Mai had to assume he'd gone from the absence of motor noises while she lay still with shallow breathing.
She didn't realize she'd been holding her breath until a hearty exhale left her lips. Mai carefully peaked over the tree trunk and spotted the older gentleman watching one of her captors speeding away.
'I need to ask him for help, but can I trust him? I'm too exhausted to read auras anymore. For all I know he could know Kasai too. I must be extremely close to a town if I've descended far enough to encounter foot traffic. I could lose all bets if this guy turns out to be a phony. Either way, I'm at my limit. If my spiritual energy is spent that means I may not make it much further. I have to try then.' Mai made up her mind. She lifted herself out of the tree and faced the older gentleman. Without her walking stick, Mai tilted sideways and nearly collapsed as dark spots blurred her vision.
The sound of leaves wrestling must have alerted that older man to her presence because by the time she met his eyes his mouth was agape. Mai blinked again when she realized he looked exactly like the man from her dream who 'rescued' her the night before. Before getting too lost in her own thoughts she cried out tears falling of their own accord.
"Oh..my Gods!" He cried out clearly surprised by her sudden appearance.
"Please, help me! That man... he is trying to kill me and…I .. I'm hurt… and ….i …kidnapped….please.. you have to called the police sir…I ….please…help me…." Mai stuttered out in a mix of hyperventilation and sobbing. The man looked on with even more surprised as his expression turn grim and pale. He held his own chest and quickly fumbled with his pockets pulling out a phone.
"Yes, I'd like to report a kidnapping and attempted murder please." Mai heard him speak before she felt her body tilt again and suddenly her vision went black.