I hope you guys know that I freaking love all of you, okay?
I'm now quite out of that slump I mentioned before… and looking back, it perhaps looks like I'm vying for attention, so I'm going to apologize for that now… Heh.
Ah, but there was a purpose for this. I'm curious-I think I mentioned before that I had a ton of random story things for Ghost Hunt (and other animes) as well as several crossovers… So I wanted to know if I should put them up under one story so that you guys can look through the random stuff my brain decides to put together. Since I can't obviously take on more than I can chew-or rather, I shouldn't-if you should feel like adopting one of them, I'll consider it. I'll give you whatever notes I have in the best of detail I can give you. But before I even think about that… would that interest you guys AT ALL? Because if it should… I'll post it. I'll also have any new ideas I suddenly come up with put on there. In other words, there's not an actual update schedule since ideas don't work that way. The stories probably won't be edited much, and will therefore probably suck. Be forewarned—I have a lot of really freaking weird ideas. And the crossovers will probably kill you a little bit. So… you can PM or review about that, if you want.
Dammit, that got wordy.
I don't own Ghost Hunt, obviously.
ENJOY!
BLIND
Masako had fallen victim to the zuhzou curse and the rest of us were starting to feel danger closing in. Is Kasai really behind all of these awful things? It just doesn't feel right!
I know that Kasai is innocent! I can't say it's anything more than my gut feeling… but it's so strong I have to believe it with all my heart.
And then… the zuhzou even came after me!
"Burn the hitogata and throw the ashes in the river, and the power of the enmi will be broken," is what Naru said, but after saying that, he suddenly collapsed!
NARU! WAKE UP!
BLIND
Thursday
Night
"Naru!"
Within the seconds after I said that, the room was turned straight to action.
Even the blobs seemed a bit frantic…
Lin had gone and picked Naru up, checking his pulse and such. "Somebody find a phone, he needs an ambulance," he ordered, and almost instantaneously it seemed as if an ambulance siren could be heard. Everything went by so fast… did I call the ambulance? Or did someone else?
Soon, it was only Monk, Ayako, and me in base.
Masako was in the hospital, but would be fine.
John stayed at the hospital with Masako to make sure she stayed fine.
Naru just went unconscious out of nowhere.
Lin had accompanied him in the ambulance.
Our team seems to just have been halfed almost effortlessly. Heck, even the blobs had left!
Monk, seeing as he was the only leader-type person left, went ahead and took charge. "Okay, let's go ahead and get rid of the hitogata," Monk said. "After that, we should go back to the office and wait for Lin to contact us. We won't change our strategy or pull out of here unless Naru gives the word."
"You're right," Ayako agreed quietly. "Let's do it."
This is all my fault. It's because I didn't let go of Naru's hand. I did, didn't I? I'm such an idiot. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to him!
As I was wallowing in guilt, a hand placed itself on top of my head. "Hey, don't worry!" Monk encouraged. "Naru's going to be fine. Cheer up, okay? Let's go make a monster bonfire."
"Kay," I said softly, even though I definitely didn't feel like doing it.
"Besides, if we don't, Naru will probably get mad at us," he reminded me.
That's… a good enough incentive to me!
After all, a mad Naru was not something I wanted to deal with.
Even so, all I wanted was to be right next to him, and so help me I couldn't figure out why.
BLIND
Friday
It took most of the evening to check through everything and make sure the equipment was running. We ran through manual checks of the equipment, and in general just ran the base with only three people and only two sufficient sets of eyes.
By the time we went down to the river, set up the hitogata, had everything else ready, and Monk all dressed in his robes, it was early in the morning, and if my calculations were right, the sun was just beginning to rise.
Even as I sensed the flames carefully, even as I listened to Monk's chants, even as I felt the contrasting burn of the fire and the cold wind of the day, all I could think about was if Naru was going to be okay.
Did he hit his head in the sewer and I didn't notice? Did he hurt himself more when he fell out of his chair? Did he exhaust himself too much? Has he woken up yet? Will more testing be done? He is doing alright, isn't he?
The fire burned itself out, and Ayako started shoveling the ashes into a basket we prepared earlier with a small garden trowel we found in a shed on campus. Deciding to try and find something else even vaguely less upsetting to think about, I thought back to the case.
We found the dolls, but who's the hexer? Who would put a death curse on me, Masako, and Naru? I don't want to believe that it's Kasai, but could it somehow be true?
Ayako poured the ashes of the dolls into the river.
The power of enmi… it should be broken now, right? So that woman shouldn't appear before Naru with that scythe and those bloodthirsty eyes again.
At least I don't have to worry about that.
… I hope.
BLIND
I had lost Ayako and Monk as we walked back to the office. I had decided to go to the school. I had something I had to do.
They had probably noticed my presence. Well, probably… We were going to wait for Lin. But… this couldn't wait.
It just couldn't.
I found myself in the biology classroom with Kasai and Ms. Ubusuna.
"So, how is Mr. Shibuya doing?" Ms. Ubusuna broke the tense air that enveloped the room.
"I haven't heard," I confessed, "but… you know if anything bad happens to Naru I'll never forgive whoever's responsible."
I didn't understand what was happening. Why was it that all of a sudden Naru seemed to consume me? I suppose I always had this feeling somewhere in me, but for some reason it was amplifying. When he got hurt… I got so scared. I was STILL scared. Naru… he had to be okay, right?
I wasn't sure.
Kasai brought me back to the real world. "Oh," she said, "and you think that's me, don't you? You think I cursed you. You and Masako Hara and your boss Mr. Shibuya!" I clenched my fist. "You think I did the same thing with Mr. Yoshino and the other people who got hurt, and that I'm making all these scary things happen around here! Why don't you come out and say you think I'm guilty!"
"I can't!" I replied, "because I've never really believed you are." Kasai stared at me with a shocked expression. "Its… not very logical, but I can just feel it in my heart." I know that Kasai is innocent. "So defend yourself! It's not you! Kasai, you know you're not the kind of person who would cast curses or hurt people, so why won't you say it?!"
"I, uh…" Kasai was at a loss for words.
We stood there in silence. Then the door opened to reveal Taka. "Excuse me, Ms. Ubusuna?" she called out tentatively.
"Yes? What is it?" Ms. Ubusuna answered Taka.
"I wanted to tell Mai we just got a phone call from Mr. Shibuya," she said.
"Naru called?" I turned to face Taka.
BLIND
This is from what I gathered had happened at the hospital before I got there.
By Mai Taniyama. *1
"Are you sure he's here?" Ayako asked outside of a hospital room 503 with Monk. "I don't see his name anywhere."
"This is the room number Lin told me. If we're wrong we can always say that we're sorry," Monk replied as he knocked on the door.
"Come in," Lin's voice could be heard through the door.
"'Sup, Lin?" Monk asked casually as they walked into the room. "Hey, Naru!" he greeted as he saw Naru on the hospital-issue bed.
Ayako walked in after Monk, greeting Lin with a simple pat on the shoulder before joining Monk at Naru's bedside. 'Talk about a fashion overhaul,' she noted his hospital-issue white outfit in contrast to his normally black clothes. 'I like him in white,' she thought with a giggle. –Note by Mai Taniyama-WAIT, NARU WEARS BLACK ALL THE TIME?!—
"So how you feelin', man?" Monk asked with his typical speech patterns.
"It was just mild anemia, nothing worth talking about," Naru answered, looking up from his notebook for once.*2 "What did you do with the hitogata?"
"We burned them up and threw the ashes in the river like you told us to," Monk informed him. "Now all that's left is to find whoever made them."
"I'm almost positive I've figured that one out," Naru said.
"You have proof it's the Kasai girl?" Monk asked.
"Of course, who else would it be?" Ayako agreed with Monk. –Another note by Mai-OF COURSE they still think that! Didn't I say it's not Kasai!?—
Instead of giving an actual answer, Naru stayed aloof about it. "I'd like to meet with the culprit and have a little chat," he said before closing his notebook, "then this case will be closed and we can move on to something else. You two can go now."
"Wait a sec, we just barely got here Naru!" Ayako protested.
"You mean you're not even gonna let us in on who we've been looking for?" That was Monk.
"We need to handle this carefully, that's all," Naru responded. *3
"Well guess what? I made a commitment to this case just like you, and I think I deserve to know who the bastard is that we've been hunting down!" said Monk.
"You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to back out now when we're so close to the truth!" Ayako gave her own reasons for staying.
I'm going to end this now, as I busted though the door at this point. See, while Monk and Ayako had stopped at the door, I didn't. I was blind, so I couldn't see behind the little name plate thing behind the glass. I just needed the room number and hoped it was right. I didn't even stop at the reception desk, I just went straight through with, "I'm a visitor!" thrown at the receptionist as I went past.
"Oh, NARU!" I said as I held the footboard of the hospital bed. "Thank goodness. Oh my gosh is it true you're going to be okay?" I MIGHT have been a little too excited, but dammit, I was a teenager and emotions are really confusing right now!
Taka walked in at a more calm state than I.
"Yuuko? Why are you here?" Monk asked as he saw the new edition to the room.
"I asked her to come," Naru explained. "Is Kasai with you?"
"Yeah, she's here," Taka confirmed. Kasai walked in just then. You could feel the tension in the room almost instantly. "And one more. Come on it," Taka called into the hallway.
Ms. Ubusuna walked in with a bunch of flowers. Dammit, what's with flowers showing up at our cases? Usually something bad happens with them… "Hello? Please excuse me, I hope I'm not intruding on everyone," Ms. Ubusuna said softly. Somehow, Naru's face became a bit more stiff—meaning a bit more serious—when Ms. Ubusuna stepped in.
In a blink of an eye, the three from Yuasa High School were seated in the three chairs on the wall to Naru's left, right beside the door.
"I have a couple of questions," Naru stated as he opened his notebook. "First one is for Yuuko and Kasai. Did either of you hear about me being an onmyouji from talking to Mai?" Is he seriously asking that? He could have just asked me that one if he didn't already know it… which he does…
"Being a what?" Well, that about explains it for Taka.
"Yeah, I did," Kasai said. "But so what?"
"Did you pass that information along to anyone?" Naru pressed.
"What the hell kind of difference would it make if I told anybody?" Kasai seemed frustrated. "Why are you asking me stupid questions? Just say I'm guilty! Just say I like to curse people!"
"Kasai, stop!" I said to no avail.
"I'm not stupid, why else would you have asked me to come here?" I think Kasai was at her breaking point…
"I need you to answer the question," Naru ignored her outburst. "You must've told someone I was an onmyouji, now who was it?"
Seeing that Kasai wasn't answering, Ms. Ubusuna spoke up this time. "I suppose Kasai did confine to me that she'd heard that," she said. Naru's eyebrows knitted down into a glare of some sort. "But please, rest assured, I haven't shared it with anyone else."
"I appreciate that," Naru acted like he hadn't just glared at her response. "I have just one more question to ask. Where are you from, Ms. Ubusuna?"
What kind of question is that?!
Apparently, judging by her facial expression, Ms. Ubusuna thought the same thing. "I'm from Fukushima," she answered. *4 "But why do you ask?"
She's not from Tokyo? I thought she graduated at Yuasa?! And yeah, why do you ask, Naru?!
"Fukushima…" Naru repeated to himself as he set his closed notebook on his lap. "Thank you very much. The case is solved. I believe I have a complete picture of the events at Yuasa and the person who's behind them."
"You know who did it?" Kasai asked incredulously.
"You figured it out from those questions?" Monk spoke exactly what I was thinking.
"It's really not that hard if you consider the facts of the case. We're dealing with zuhzou that uses enmi or hitogata, and if the hitogata are found and disposed of properly, the hex should be broken," Naru said.
"Okay, so who is it?" Monk said. He's not very patient, is he?
"You're trying to say it's me, that I did it, aren't you?" Kasai said with hysteria in her tone. There has been quite a lot of hysteria going around, huh?
"Calm down," Naru said, "it's not you." Both Kasai and I gasped. So it's true?! It may sound a bit mean, but I was totally expecting him to accuse Kasai like everyone else, then have evidence, and then I'd have to try and convince myself. "I doubt you know how to make a hitogata or have the skill to perform the zuhzou curse, therefore we can rule you out."
"Alright, then who is it?" Ayako asked.
"Yeah, quit stalling Naru! Who did it?" Monk repeated.
So now that Naru says it's not Kasai you actually AGREE?!
"Our hexer," Naru paused for what I swear was dramatic effect, "is Ms. Ubusuna."
Ms. Ubusuna… did all of this?!
"Inside a manhole on the grounds we found hitogata with the names of myself, Mai, and Miss Hara as well as Mr. Yoshino and many other people at the school. You were the one who made them, aren't you Ms. Ubusuna?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. What on earth is a hitogata?" Ms. Ubusuna was oddly calm about it. It was an eerie calm.
Naru pressed on. "The straw doll used to cast the zuhzou hex. If there are any more out there please tell me where to find them, and I want you to promise that you won't create another one ever again."
"How could I make such a promise when I've done nothing wrong?" Ms. Ubusuna replied.
I viewed this as a tennis match of words between the two… and Naru couldn't stand to lose…
"You are guilty, Ms. Ubusuna," Naru continued to press it.
"There must be some confusion," Ms. Ubusuna brushed it off.
"All of the evidence points to your involvement."
"And what sort of 'proof' do you have?"
"You're wrong!" Kasai cut in. "I caused all of it to happen! I'm the one who's guilty!"
"The victims hurt you," Naru said calmly. "They were the ones who attacked and rejected you and publically ridiculed your psychic powers which makes it appear that the motivation for the culprit to begin casting curses was the Kasai Panic."
Ms. Ubusuna smiled. "Then correct me if I'm mistaken but wouldn't that make Kasai more of a suspect than I am? She even confessed to you just now, didn't she?" What happened to defending Kasai?!
"M-Ms. Kei…" Kasai's voice trembled in shock. She bent her head down as she thought about what had just happened... the very teacher that defended her just accused her.
"Actually no," Naru said. "Kasai could be ruled out because of her relationship with Murayama."
"Murayama?" Ms. Ubusuna asked.
"Yes, the first student that had an accident due to sitting at that desk. Didn't they know each other, Yuuko?"
"Huh?" Taka was not expected to be called on now. "Uh, yeah. I'm pretty sure that Murayama and Kasai were both members of the liberal arts club for a little while, before Kasai quit and joined the biology club." Taka looked towards Kasai for confirmation.
"Were you really?" I asked when Kasai apparently didn't notice Taka's stare.
"…For a little bit… Sophomore year…" Kasai answered very softly, not lifting her head at all.
"It was weird when Murayama yelled at her that time. I remember we were all sorta shocked by the fact that she actually had the courage to talk to an upperclassman in such a nasty way," Taka finished.
"If our culprit personally knew the student she was targeting she wouldn't have had to go to the trouble of putting a blanket curse on that desk, so why did she do it? Why would someone chose to curse a seat instead of a person? It's simple; the hexer didn't know Murayama or what she looked like," Naru said.
"Based on what you've just said I don't think you have enough evidence to convict me. Ehe, I could have easily asked around if I wanted to find out what her name was," Ms. Ubusuna continued defending herself.
"Following Murayama's complaint, those who denied the existence of psychic abilities banded together, and made their feelings known. By that point, you and others were made to feel isolated. Would you have really felt free to ask?" No answer. "We also have to consider the names used. Three people outside of Yuasa High School were targets of curses. That would be Mai, Masako Hara, and then myself. Aside from Miss Hara, whose celebrity makes it common knowledge, there are a limited number of people who know Mai's name or mine. Speaking for myself, I can only remember disclosing my full name to the school principal and then to you, in the lab when we first met."
I'm Kazuya Shibuya… I remember him saying that as we entered…. Oh my gosh, I told her my name too!
"The principal doesn't know Mai's name, so that would mean, as far as I can tell, that you're the only person here who knows all three of our proper names, Ms. Ubusuna," Naru said.
"Why would I want to put a curse on you? What kind of motive could I possibly have? I don't even know you," Ms. Ubusuna said.
"A few minutes ago, you said that Kasai told you she had talked to Mai who told her that I was an onmyouji. Isn't that right?"
"Yes, and?"
"Zuhzou hexes come from onmiyoudo. If I were an onmyouji, I might be able to put a stop to them, so you tried to get rid of me before I could figure it out and act."
"If that's true then why would I bring Mai into it?" Good question, why bring me into this?
"Mai has demonstrated unusually sharp intuition on this case. For example, she was the first person to declare that Kasai was innocent." He's right… "You were afraid that people would start to believe her, so you cast a curse on Mai."
"It's not true…" Kasai sniffed. "Ms. Kei has been the only one who believed in me!"
"But Kasai!" I tried to get through to her.
"I did it. I said it in an assembly in front of everyone! I'll curse you death! I said it! I wanted them all to just go away! All of those people who made fun of me and treated Ms. Kei like garbage just because she was my friend!" Kasai was crying. "And then people started having accidents. Mr. Yoshino and Masako were really hurt…" Kasai broke down and sobbed openly into her hands. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I can't help it! It's me! It's all my fault! I cursed them and everything started and I didn't mean to!"
"It's easy to understand why'd you want to protect your teacher, Kasai." Naru's calm voice spoke to her. "She was the one to stand up and defend you, but there's no way a novice caused this. You simply don't have the ability to do it. You've even had difficulty bending spoons lately and that's a much easier skill."
Kasai lifted her head as she thought about it. Right… she almost bent the spoon against the chair, that is, until Naru caught her.
"She almost used a trick to bend a spoon against the edge of a chair. Where do you suppose Kasai would have learned that particular trick to bend the spoon on the edge of a chair, Ms. Ubusuna?" Naru looked directly at Ms. Ubusuna.
"I'm sure I don't know."
"She learned it from you. Yes, you passed on your knowledge. No one else would know to do that." Naru looked towards Lin. This seemed to be a signal because Lin walked up to Naru carrying something in his hand. "You have a remarkable understanding of psychic powers and parapsychology, with an interest in some specialized fields as well." Lin handed Naru… a… magazine?
Dammit, I can't read those either! It's all ink over ink and the paper's weird…
Ms. Ubusuna, on the other hand, had a very… strange reaction. She seemed shock. Or rather, she looked mortified.
"I began to suspect that your involvement with Kasai's powers and her well-being wasn't purely for filling throbbing purposes," *5 Naru held up the magazine before flipping through the pages, "so I followed my hunch and started poking around in some old papers." Naru held the magazine open at some page. "It wasn't long before I came across this. According to the date here it was doing the psychic craze that happened when you were a child. Among the children who claimed to be able to bend spoons was a little girl named Kei Ubusuna."
Everyone seemed shocked. It seems like Kasai didn't even know that…
Naru continued. "As the craze grew and drew attention, many children began to come forward and claim they too had psychic power. At first the children became media darlings. Both television and print covered the stories, running specials and lavishing them with attention, but as curiosity began to fade, the public began to look down on the kids. People began to call them fakes and questioned whether any of them had any real powers at all. One of the girls who came forward during that time was a girl named Kei Ubusuna, from the Fukushima prefecture."
Ms. Ubusuna's hold on the flowers tightened. "I wasn't a fake! I could do it! I really did bend those spoons and a lot of people saw it!" she yelled. "It's just… sometimes it was easy, and other times it just wouldn't work, and then that reporter came to see me. He told me, 'If you really have these powers, you should be able to bend this. Would you like to give it a try and show me?' and he gave me a spoon. I remember that day so clearly. I thought if I failed he would write about what a liar I was and everyone would believe him. So just that once, I decided to use a little trick that another one of the psychic kids had shown me to bend the spoon, I was just so nervous! There was a photographer. He caught me… No one was there to tell me I didn't have to fake it. I didn't have anyone to teach me that when you can't make it work, it's okay to just admit it!"
She must be talking about when Naru told Kasai about faking it earlier in the investigation…
"I'm sorry," Naru said solemnly as he cast aside the magazine. "It's a shame Japan left the reputation of ESP and psychic research in the hands of the media. There were no credible research institutions at the time to determine whether there was real truth to the children's claims and abilities. This should never have been left to the court of public opinion. The media will always care more about headlines than truth."
"Did you really do it?" Kasai asked her teacher.
"At first, I only wanted to defend Kasai's talent, but then it got crazy, and people started saying things, like, 'Why don't you really help that girl instead of encouraging her?' and asking me how I could call myself a teacher," Ms. Ubusuna said.
"And so, you…" Naru left it up to her to answer.
"That's right…" Ms. Ubusuna smiled again. "It was only supposed to be a little prank."
How can she be smiling?!
"About ten years ago, an unusual car wreck occurred on small street near a Tokyo publishing firm," Naru said. Ms. Ubusuna gasped—she knew about this? Naru pulled a newspaper clipping out of his notebook. Something I CAN read! Wait, I know this article… "The driver, who's erratic steering caused the accident, gave a detailed report to the police," he rattled off from the clipping. "He is quoted as saying that, 'Suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, a disembodied hand appeared before my eyes'."
"Oh my gosh…" Taka gasped. Kasai seemed to be at a loss of words again.
"That's what happened to Mr. Yoshino," I said.
"The man who caused the accident also happened to be the reporter who published your story," Naru said to Ms. Ubusuna.
"Are you accusing me of that, too?" Ms. Ubusuna said.
"It certainly seems likely. But if you did cause the car to wreck, then there's no way in hell we'll believe you intended these 'pranks' of yours to be harmless. Luckily no one involved has died yet, but it was only a matter of time. If we hadn't found that hitogata in the desk and another student had been assigned there, they might have been dragged to death by a train," Naru said, his tone dark.
It's so creepy. How can she keep smiling through all of this?!
"Oh yes, that would have been tragic, but then, if someone had died, maybe people would've learned a lesson," Ms. Ubusuna lightly replied before rising to put the flowers she still held in the empty vase on the other side of the room. "A lesson about respecting things in this world that can't be explained by science."
How did all of this happen? Are people that freaked out over Ms. Ubusuna and Kasai bending spoons?
I thought of a spoon in my mind. And I bent it. What a ridiculous concept.
I don't think so. I don't think this is really about certain people being right or wrong. A lot of people just went nuts over psychic powers and curses.
It divided them.
I sent my senses toward Ms. Ubusuna calmly arranging the flowers in the vase.
Ms. Ubusuna just got caught up in revenge and fear and lost sight of the responsibility to use her power wisely.
Ms. Ubusuna reached her hand into the flower stems she had been arranging. "Lin!" Naru ordered as soon as he watched her do it. Lin apparently knew what was going on, unlike the rest of us. Lin ran over to the table and grabbed the flowers out of the vase and away from Ms. Ubusuna.
"What are you doing? You give those back!" Ms. Ubusuna shouted. What's going on?!
Lin searched though the stems, pulling something out of them. He gasped at what he held in his hand. No way…. Lin handed the thing to Naru.
It was hitogata. It was addressed to Kazuya Shibuya.
"You must be exhausted by now, Ms. Ubusuna," Naru said calmly. "A zuhzou takes both mental and physical strength, and it seems you're beginning to look pretty worn out."
"Perhaps…" Ms. Ubusuna said lightly in defeat. "I suppose you could be right."
"Monk, call the principal and inform him that Ms. Ubusuna needs counseling," Naru ordered.
"Right," was Monk's simple reply.
If having powers makes you as sad and crazy as that… then… I don't think I want 'em.
It was after that we all left the hospital to leave Naru in peace.
Kasai… she was a bit of a mess.
"Shhh, Kasai, it's okay," I tried to reassure her as she cried on me. We were in the middle of a park, on a bench, and before you even think of asking, I have no clear recollection of how we got here.
"But Ms. Kei, she… s-she-" Kasai broke down again.
This was getting nowhere fast.
"It's okay, Kasai. She'll be okay. This whole thing got to her head, that's all," I said as I hugged the girl.
"D-Do you think so?" Kasai said, finally looking me in the eyes.
"I know so," I said, even though I actually didn't have a clue. The little voice that had been bugging me about Kasai's innocence wasn't helping at all. Right when I need it, too.
We sat there in silence as Kasai's sobs died down. "Can… can I ask you something?" Kasai said.
"Anything."
"Are you blind?"
She figured out?! Well, she already knows…
"Yeah, I am…" I said softly.
"You are WHAT?!" I heard from behind us. I turned to find… Ayako.
Dammit all!
"Uh, hi, Ayako? How's the weather?" I asked lamely, trying to think of a way out of this.
"Nuh-uh, no can do on that. You're explaining, now," she demanded, walking over and sitting on the other edge of the bench beside Kasai.
"Um… what are you even doing here?" I tried stalling.
"I was going to apologize to Kasai for accusing her and then tell her that Naru has something to tell her… but he can wait until I figure out why I am just now finding out about you being blind!" Ayako yelled the last part.
"SH! Not so loud," I whispered, thankful that this park was pretty much empty except for us three.
"Who else knows," she demanded.
I sighed. the cat's out of the bag, as they say… might as well get this over with. "Monk and John."
"How long have they known and how on earth did they figure it out?"
"John accidentally found out from my principal during the first case and Monk accidentally saw a part of my diary. He saw a sentence where I confessed the fact that I was blind, so…"
"So John found out accidentally and Monk found out by reading a girl's diary. Very nice."
"It was by accident BOTH times! They meet up every Saturday at the office and harass me now. Well, Monk more than John, but still!"
"Why do that?" Kasai asked, inviting herself into the conversation. Her eyes had dried, and she looked genuinely curious.
"Well, they say it's so that if I need any help or something due to my little 'disability', that I can always go to them. Personally I think Monk's just enjoying that almost no one else knows except John, and if Naru ever figures it out he wants to brag and say something like, 'You know all those Saturdays I spent at the office with John? It was because I knew!' or something stupid like that…"
"Mr. Shibuya doesn't know?" Kasai asked.
"Nope. If he does, he hasn't said a word about it," I said honestly with a shrug.
"So how do you get out of monitor duty? Even Masako and I have been forced to do it," Ayako grumbled.
"Eh? You have? I can't see Masako doing that…" I tried imagining it, but for one, if you are blind and have only sensed the things around you, it makes imagining scenarios a little hard, and two, Masako just didn't fit! "Anyway, I think it's because I glare at them the whole time and get really snappy when I am forced to… you can't imagine how it was during that first case without Lin."
"How long did it take for him to take you off of monitor duty?" Kasai asked this question.
"A tutorial on how to use the equipment plus five minutes," I said earnestly. I never really mentioned it until now, now that I thought about it.
"What about temperatures? Doesn't Naru usually make you do that?" This was Ayako.
"I made Naru set the thermometers up so that they read the temperature out loud, plus I usually get Monk or John to help me."
"You got Naru to do that?" This was Ayako again.
"Neither he nor I seem to know exactly how it happened…"
"How do you read and write and stuff?" Kasai asked.
"This is where things get complicated," I sighed. "You see… er, forgive the accidental pun… I have these… senses I guess you could call them. I use these to read and write and stuff by following either the grove or trail of ink, chalk, lead, or whatever left on paper. I can't read laminated paper, monitors and other electric equipment, or magazines…"
"So like… sonar on a bat? You know, to locate bugs and stuff in the dark?" Kasai said. *6
"I guess so… never really thought of naming it…" I replied earnestly.
"Okay, so why the big secret?" Ayako said.
"Think of it this way, Ayako. Remember the first time we met? What if I told you then that I was blind? Would you think of me like you did Kuroda?"
"Kuroda?" Kasai asked.
"She caused a poltergeist in the old school building at my school. She didn't even know she was doing it, but she claimed to be psychic and see ghosts in the old building." I answered. "Ayako often and immediately shot down Kuroda's claims. Kuroda actually locked her in a room because of it."
"Yeah, I guess I did…" Ayako said thoughtfully.
"You don't even remember?!" I yelled.
"That aside," she said, "you're right. I probably would have looked at you a lot differently. Well, I still sorta am, but not like I would have then…"
"See, I don't mind it now, since you already sorta know me. But back then, wouldn't you assume I wouldn't be capable? That's why…" I sighed.
"You were teased about it, weren't you?" Kasai said with a shocked expression.
"No, I AM teased about it," I replied.
"No way," Ayako said.
"Uh-huh. It's not really that bad. It sorta sucks, but unlike my old school, not a lot of people know it at my current school. I have a few friends in this school, and some of them know and understand. The few who don't haven't blabbed to the whole school, so it's not like I'm ganged up on… Though, I think Michiru might have something to do with that, she and Keiko are protective…"
"You had to switch schools?" Kasai asked.
"Well, I had to anyway for other reasons, but yes, I did. I also used to go from one part-time job to another since I kept getting fired. I would write in the form to talk to my doctor about any concerns for health and whatever, and as soon as they found out, they deemed me a liability and fired me."
"So what you're saying is that, in order to avoid being looked down on, teased, and/or fired, you decide to not tell anyone you're blind," Ayako summed it all up.
"Yeah, basically," I sighed. Honestly, with another person or two knowing I felt as if I had a weight off my chest.
"Huh. So I'm guessing I shouldn't discuss this with any of the other members, huh?" Ayako said.
"John and Monk, yes you can discuss it. Otherwise, no," I said.
"How should we let them know we know?" Kasai said.
I shrugged. "Show up on a Saturday?" I suggested. "Whisper 'I know' in their ears and see what happens?"
"You think they'd freak out?" Ayako said as smiled evilly.
"I would. Just, ah, don't do it in front of the others, since you'll eventually have to tell them what you know," I said.
"Wait a second," Kasai said and turned over to Ayako. "Don't we hate each other, or something?"
"Maybe," Ayako replied.
And with that, Kasai and Ayako knew that I, Mai Taniyama, am blind.
BLIND
A few days later…
"Woah… all of them?" Monk said incredulously.
Why does Naru hate me?
He had just made me do… what the hell AM I doing?! He said that he was doing an experiment and testing me for psychic powers…. However… Guessing the light that would light up… it was accompanied by an individual sound for each one. There was a test run for light and sound one, light and sound two, light and sound three, and light and sound four. I had to guess which one would be the next to light up. It was completely ridiculous. How would this test anything?!
…And, Monk was right, I didn't get a single damn one.
"Wow, to miss that many of them…" Even JOHN was in on this!
"Yes, it's terribly impressive, Mai," Masako taunted sarcastically.
"Or something," Ayako responded.
"I knew it," Naru said from where he sat behind the laptop connected to the machine of torture. "Everyone, Mai is a latent psychic."
"I am?!" I said. Didn't I say or think or agree or whatever that I did NOT want psychic powers just a few days ago?! The universe hates me too….
"You've attempted," key word ATTEMPTED, "to guess which of the bulbs in the box would light up and make a sound and hit the corresponding button over a thousand times now," Naru explained. A thousand, really?! Was that actually necessary? "To not get one hit is almost a mathematical impossibility. I think it's clear that this means Mai's sharp instincts on this case weren't a coincidence."
"Well I gotta say I thought she was a rock star a long time ago," Monk commented in. "Remember the creepy dollhouse? She fell down the well and had that trippy dream, and then when the gas line was on fire she saw that kid." Monk leered closer to me. "You absolutely sure that wasn't a spirit?"
I gasped. Did I seriously?! Then again, I did actually see it, and I am blind, and so far I've been only able to actually see spirits…. Why the hell didn't I figure this out sooner? Maybe Naru's right, I am an idiot…
Monk laughed at my reaction with a grin.
"Actually, that could be true. Mai is extraordinarily sensitive when it comes to those who have intent to do harm," Naru said. I smiled. It seemed like he was actually complimenting me somewhat! "She has a very natural sense of self-preservation… much like a wild animal, she can instinctively sniff out friend from foe."
And the moment is gone. Did he seriously need to use the word 'sniff' in all of that too!?
"So although Mai look ordinary on the outside, inside she's all 'jungle cat'?" Ayako commented with a smirk.
Don't say it… don't say it… you'll regret it…
I was thinking about what spoon bending would make him, but I made a promise and I intend to keep it. *7
Choosing to ignore the laughter, I picked up a spoon off the table and started playing with it. As it turns out, Naru now has Kasai come over to train her powers with Lin. Needless to say, there are now spoons everywhere in the office. I think I actually have one in my bag somewhere.
Monk looked at me fiddling with the spoon ignoring them before he seemed to remember something. "Oh right! I've been meaning to ask about this," Monk looked to Naru. "How did you get Kasai to trust you? I went to apologize for constantly accusing her and she hit me. It hurt a lot, actually… she was all buddy-buddy after that, but I got curious. She apparently talked to you and constantly talked to Mai…. How'd you do it?"
Dammit! It's not like we can say that Naru bent and broke a spoon…
I kept thinking, and staring at the spoon in my hands. "Mai?" Ayako said as she stared at me clenching the spoon.
Monk and the rest turned towards me at her comment. Even Lin did.
A spoon… that's it!
I quickly moved the spoon so I held it like Naru did. I know he probably actually bent the spoon and that he broke it, but I noticed that if you held it a tiny bit differently, you could fake the bending part.
I held it carefully and supported the handle behind part of palm. Using that as leverage, I put some strength behind it…
And it bent.
I didn't look up, but I knew the others were staring. Well, then there was Naru. He was grinning… And then Lin, who apparently figured out where I got it from and was now glaring at Naru.
"HA!" Monk started laughing. "Nice trick, kid," he said.
"Trick?" Masako asked quietly. "How so?"
"You see," Monk explained as he grabbed a spoon, "she held it like this, right? So she made it so that the spoon's handle was supported by a part of her palm. So if you apply pressure to the head, instead of teetering back, it's forced to bend instead." Monk took the spoon and replicated the trick I used. The spoon bent, just as he said.
The others grabbed a spoon and copied him.
"You're right." John commented as his spoon bent just like the others.
"Where'd you learn that trick Mai?" Ayako asked.
Uh…
Naru actually came to my rescue on this one. "The best way to keep from falling victim to a trickster is to make sure you know all the tricksters' secrets," he said. The room soon split into separate discussions as I examined all the bent spoons…
A few minutes later, when everyone was distracted, Lin walked up to Naru as if to either tell him something or throttle him. Knowing Lin as well as I do…
I have no freaking clue.
Seeming to know what Lin was talking about, Naru held up a hand and whispered, "I'll keep a lid on it." Lin nodded before walking back to where he was. Still, he put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention.
"Don't let him make you cover for him all the time," he said before he disappeared to his office.
"That was… weird…" I said to myself. The others seemed preoccupied. Naru slipped off to his office.
"Mai, tea," he called over his shoulder.
"Alright!" I said, brushing aside the Lin thing to make Naru some tea.
A few minutes and a cup of tea later, I walked into Naru's office. "Do you ever knock?" he looked up from his work.
I leave him alone for not even ten minutes and he already finds himself work to do…
Deciding to ignore his question, I walked up to his desk and set down his tea. "Here you go!" I said cheerfully. I turned to walk out, deciding that, since he sorta saved me not only a few minutes ago but also during the case in the manhole, I could stand to not pester him for a thank you for a few tea calls.
"Mai?" he called out. I stopped and turned over my shoulder to face him.
"Hm?" I mused to show that I was listening.
"Thanks for covering for me," he said.
"Wha—oh, no problem! I said I'd keep it a secret, didn't I? Though it seems that Lin figured it out anyway... and you especially said not to tell him…"
"Well it figures. There's no helping it. Though I am curious, how did you figure out that trick?"
"I watched you do it, remember? So when I was trying to ignore that little 'wild animal' and 'jungle cat' bit I messed with a spoon… When Monk questioned you, I wasn't sure what to do, but when Ayako noticed me freaking out and holding a spoon I decided to see if I could trick them. I couldn't use Ms. Ubusuna and Kasai's trick, so I took notice of how I could use my palm and hoped it worked," I said. "Honestly, it was very last minute…"
"I'm impressed you figured it out that quickly," Naru said before turning back to his work and drinking his tea. "You can leave now."
"Yes sir!"
And so, another case was solved.
But I had to wonder… when I asked Ayako about what happened before I got in the hospital room, she said Naru looked way different in white than his constant black.
Obviously, I didn't know. I'm blind. I only know one reason to wear black. So that leaves to question….
Why is Naru wearing mourning clothes? Or better yet… For whom?
BLIND
Well, it's finally over… dear Lord, I think this case kept dragging a bit—although that could have very well been my fault—and I'll admit that I'm glad it's over. After this case, I feel that things are probably going to pick up a bit more. Hopefully… please?
*1 Okay, so this was the only freaking way I could think of for this scene, since in the manga none of that happened, and I ran out of translated novel to refer to. Damn. So sorry if that is really weird and if it sucks since originally all three (Ayako, Monk, Mai) enter together. Anyway, another side note I might as well mention here, when Mai, Monk, and Ayako enter, Masako is already there (she doesn't get hurt in the manga, I think I mentioned that). Mai and Ayako snicker to each other about Naru's state of dress. Ayako-Look! Naru in non-black clothes! Mai- How rare is this!? Ayako- That is rad! Mai- It's kind of funny. Then Masako comments in with- You guys are so inappropriate. I keep looking at that panel and laughing and I have no idea why…
*2 For those unaware, anemia is low iron levels in the blood and such… while Naru may or may not actually have that, he did not actually collapse from anemia, just so you know. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to mention it again, but I'll try to remember to. In the case that I forget, he collapsed because he used his powers to move the rocks in the sewer so they wouldn't fall on them and… you know… get severely injured and/or die… that would be one hell of a way to end a series. Two and a half cases and DEAD. It'd be an interesting plot twist, though. A sucky one, yes, but interesting still.
*3 He is referring to the fact that when he checked into the hospital, they accidentally used his real name instead of his assumed one. That's why there was no name at the door—they turned it around so the blank side would show. So the nurses and doctors would know his real name, though he doesn't want to be found out. Naru doesn't want them around in case one of the staff called him by his real name while they are there. I'm trying to imagine Naru and Lin's faces/reactions when they realized their faux pas…
*4 The Fukushima prefecture, actually. I don't know how Japan works with prefectures and all that, so if you wanted more on that, I can't help you. Just go with the fact that it's an area of Japan because in the end that's basically what it is.
*5 Okay, I'll admit… I have no damn clue what he's saying. I gave up trying to figure it out and just put that down. It sounds like… I don't know. Couldn't he just say 'heart-throbbing' and be done with it?! No, we have to be complicated… phylum… no… filming… no… screw it, it's filling. That's the best I've got. It actually sounds like filming, but like I said. I give up! And it sounds weird… at least with 'filling throbbing purposes' it… okay, it still sounds weird, but it's not as bad as 'filming throbbing purposes'… that sounds like an instruction to a medical student… Phylum, as you might remember, is part of the scientific naming of things. Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species (I remember by using Dmitri Kain Periodically Comes Over For Good Spices… and yes, Dmitri is spelled correctly, though you might spell it Dimitri). Phylum is also a group of languages or language stocks thought to be historically related (Afro-Asiatic or Indo-European)… Either way, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Maybe I should have just said 'heart-throbbing'…
*6 Okay, credit goes to VeniVidiVici123 for pointing out these next few questions through a few PMs I got from… er… her? Him? I had this part planned out but I didn't think of asking these questions. Thanks a lot, VeniVidiVici123! :D
*7 This will be one of the few times I outright ignore all of the series and change it. I really, REALLY hated this scene. I just… I can't even watch it while watching the series. I've tried, trust me. I usually end up skipping it and pretending it never happened… I can think of maybe two other scenes I'll do this with. One, because I also hated it, and two, because of the plot I've made, it just might not fit in with the rest of it… So anyway, Mai keeps the secret, well, secret, and this actually has a bigger change for later in the series than you may realize. Hehe.
… Do you guys even read these? Here's a test—potato.
DEAR FREAKING LORD THERE IS BUG THE SIZE OF MY PINKIE—it's dead. Sorry. I only screamed for a minute straight, no worries. Facing off demons, no problem, where's my incense and crosses and stuff. A bug? Well… I'll just go hide now and die… weeping…
Anyway, my little 'episode' aside… I have another question I'll answer for you. I don't remember when I was asked this, or by whom, or if I just dreamt the whole thing, but the question is, 'Is this your first fanfic?' Well, the answer is yes and no. I actually wrote Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction when I first started out, and I published (AKA posted) that stuff on my old DA account by a different name. I think I MIGHT have written a story or two to Ghost Hunt, but I'm not sure, since if I did, I never published (posted) it. However, Blind was the first fanfic I was really anywhere serious about and the first fanfic I made under SabastianScott. So Yes, for SabastianScott, being really serious, and Ghost Hunt, this was my first fanfic. However, it is still No, because I used to write under a different name for the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom. And before you ask, I don't have plans for rewriting the old Sonic stories and posting them anywhere.
(I'm figuring out whether I should answer more questions or start my fanfic suggestion thing again… I've been a bit lazy about it so I sorta forgot to post them…)
If you have any questions to ask, feel free to! I'm glad to answer any questions you have about the story or the weird spellings of Sabastian… or maybe you just wonder if I'm French or English or something. Ask away! And I always love hearing feedback, so if you want to leave a review, feel free to. You guys are very nice to me, so I'm thankful for that! (Like, seriously, you have no idea) I also have a tumblr for SabastianScott, so if you want to follow me you're welcome to. I have no idea what I'll post, but I'll figure it out eventually. I guess I'll post about my stories or random scenes you want written or questions you want answered or… something.
Until next time…