I totally was not spending the last couple of months on Aura Kingdom. Not at all. I suck at lying.

But life did give me issues too, which is part of the reason I am using a (fantastic) RPG game for escapism purposes. It seems that this year everyone is going to make up for the drama they hadn't been causing for the past… all of their lives and people are getting in fights like crazy. So basically, I've determined that if the problems don't start resolving themselves soon, I'm gonna get so many stress migraines I will end up being labeled a pill-popper. The possibly good news in all of this is that, due to my escapism tendencies, even with how much I usually read, I read a lot more than usual and have books in my room I have yet to read, and that pretty much never happens. Ever. Reading makes you a better author. I'm hoping I somehow improved. Let's see if I did. At the very least, all the research papers have had some effect on my abilities (thanks SO MUCH Mr. EnglishTeacherWhoLikesEssays and Ms. InsaneHistoryTeacher….). Mostly making me a bit more sarcastic and maybe bitter in my writing, but life goes on. So if my writing is a little different, there's two reasons right there. I might have also had a lot of sugar and may-or-may-not have consumed an entire box of pocky in like ten minutes so…

On an unrelated note, I have two parts in the next play I'm in! And I have to crossdress due to a bit of unfair boy-to-girl ratio (2 to 1, I think) and lack of people in the play. AH, it's called 'The Mikado' and one of the parts I play is (and I think I'm spelling it right) Pish Tosh. Yes, Pish Tosh. You read correctly. With what I know (and that's not much) of him, he reminds me of Yasu and I kinda wish I could play him more. Alas, I have to become a girl for the second act for… reasons, and so I can't. Damn. Oh, and I get to sing. And I was almost Pooh-Bah and/or Koko. Both male parts, by the way. But you guys probably don't care that much and I really should work on making these author notes shorter. Oh well.

So, a bit of news, I got some great characters from you guys (especially from akitty—I don't even know how she made so many!), so if you want to tell me about more, go ahead, but I won't be practically shoving it down your throats to do so.

And I got a review from Santa. That definitely made my day!

I don't own Ghost Hunt. If I did… Ah, let's just say it's better I don't.

ENJOY! (translation-don't hurt me because I take forever on updates)

PS—Since I can't remember what it looked like when Mai wrote in her diary, I decided she filled her other one up and that this one has this sort of set up. Is that okay? Well, it's not like you have a choice.

BLIND

I flipped open to one of the newer pages in my newest diary. The old one was filled out and somewhere in my apartment (I totally didn't lose it, I wear!).

Recently a string of odd incidents have been occurring at Ryokuryo High School. Their principal had requested our services but Naru turned them down…

"Oh hi, I'm the student council president at Ryokuryo High School…. . The name's Osamu Yasuhara, but please, call me Yasu."

…But after Yasu further explained the situation and its dire need for action we ended up taking the case. The school's staff was extremely strict which bugged me to no end! And to make things worse, we were nearly attacked by a phantom dog out for blood. We knew we had our work cut out for us at that point.

We eventually figured out that the hauntings were caused by students using Orikiri-Sama, which is a form of Ouija boarding that had become quite popular at the school. Soon after I had a dream that included the freshman Sakauchi who committed suicide earlier in the year. Whatever's happening at Ryokuryo High has deeper roots than we first imagined. I'm starting to get worried. What's going to happen?

With a sigh, I stuck my diary back into one of my bags. I hadn't the faintest clue of when I got into the room. I was walking with Yasu and then I was talking to a dead guy. Living Teenage Boy vs Dead Teenage Boy. Somehow, I felt this would be a reoccurring theme in my life. Regardless, when I woke up I was tired and I couldn't really fall back asleep. That was hours ago and now that Ayako left while I pretended to be asleep, I couldn't entertain myself by listening to her sleep talk.

Sufficiently bored, I sleepily stepped into base once I had gotten dressed. Tired as I was, I doubted I was falling back asleep if I hadn't done so already.

"Mai, you're awake," Ayako greeted as I came in.

"Yeah," I yawned. "Did anything happen….?"

"Not much," Monk said, "but we were worried. According to Yasu you got kinda quiet out of nowhere, and basically you were a zombie until we put you to bed. I guess you just got worn down last night…" *1

"I guess," I held back another yawn. "What time is it?"

"It's before classes, if that's what you're wondering, so go change tapes before students show up to harass you about the investigation," Naru replied. I'd rather deal with students as long as it wasn't Matsuyama… With that, I started my first round of maintenance out of who-knows-how-many, and I just knew I'd get sick of quickly. I knew Naru did—when he starts to get sick of it, which is a rather quick process, he starts sending others out to do it more readily.

Want to know what made my day even better as I walked back to base from the final machine?

I realized Masako was coming in less than two hours.

January

Day 3

"You don't see any spirits?" Monk said incredulously at the young kimono-wearing medium. "Well you did just get here so maybe that's it. Should we give you a minute to settle in?"

"Just because I can't see them doesn't mean they're not here," Masako stated calmly. "I do feel their presence, though."

"Huh," I sighed out softly. "Well, that's too bad because you're the only one of us that can see spirits." And we are kinda royally screwed if you can't. *2

"This case is not going to be easy," Monk said as he leaned back in his chair.

"For me, I have never been good at communicating with wondering spirits. If it is a spirit that has a special connection to a person or a location, I usually have no problem…" Masako contemplated.

The monk sighed. "Anyway… because these are spirits summoned through Orikiri-Sama, it is to be expected they have no great connection to the school or to the students… And this happens again, Masako."

Masako stared at Monk. "This is only a special situation. This time it's not like I can't see or feel them at all!"

Monk was going to retort but John interrupted. "Now hold on," he said. "Let's give her a chance to settle in, just like you said."

"But you are able to sense their presence?" Naru pressed Masako, ignoring the young priest's suggestion.

"Yes," Masako answered. "I can feel an abundance of spirits around the school and their location, but what type of spirits… I can't say."

"Come on, just try harder," Monk urged.

Masako might have taken his suggestion because she then spoke again. "Wait," she said quietly, "I see something, but I can't quite make it out. It's like static on a television."

Translation via a blind person—it's fuzzy and we still know absolutely nothing.

"Great, so we can't rely on you," Ayako leaned on her hand with a smirk as she gave her sarcastic two cents. "Thanks for the help."

"Ms. Matsuzaki," Masako said in a sweet voice as her sleeve went over her mouth, "we all know you're the last person with any grounds to say that."

Thus, Ayako began a frustrated growl as she leaned forward to argue with Masako. "Do you know how aggravating you can be?!" I quickly tuned the two out. Aw man, here we go again. Cat fights already and it's not even noon. I gave out another yawn.

"Did you not get any sleep?" Yasu asked, concerned with a hint of something else in his voice. "You weren't really with the program last night."

"Oh, uh," I said. "No. I didn't." I barely got a wink thanks to that freaky dream. And the fact that despite my zombie-ness, Naru made me continue working since I wouldn't complain while stuck in LaLaLand. But it did tell me one thing: that kid is involved.

"I'm getting something else," Masako interrupted my thoughts. "The spirit has an extremely strong presence."

"What else can you tell us about it?" Naru asked.

Masako answered promptly. "Definitely a boy. He's about the same age as I am."

This sounds disturbingly familiar…

"Which would put him at about the age of sixteen, right?" Monk clarified.

"I sense strong emotions from him," Masako answered with only a faint nod to Monk. "He's had some kind of bad experience happen at this school. It's like he's being held captive by the school." Naru stood up with a file as Masako continued her report, almost like she was on autopilot. "He committed suicide, and from the level of hostility, it didn't happen long ago."

Could it be him?

"Here," Naru handed Masako a newspaper clipping of some sort. "Is this the boy you see?"

A flash of light beckoned me to go over and look at the paper over her shoulder. His hair was more neatly brushed in the photo, but it was definitely him. And here I was kinda hoping it was a coincidence in my dream…

"That's him," Masako confirmed out loud. "Yes, his name is Sakauchi…" There is no denying it then. That is definitely the boy from my dream.

Then, it was gone. No more light. I sent my senses out again—it was hardly noticeable at first, but I'm beginning to notice it's harder for me to send my senses out when I have a vision.

"I'm not so sure he's being held captive by the school," Naru said as he took the clipping and slid it back into place in his file notebook.

"Are you thinking this kid alone is to blame for all of the commotion?" Monk asked as the notebook was closed.

"Lin," Naru ignored the question. "How did last night look?"

Lin turned over his shoulder at Naru and took his headphones off. "There were several places with temperature drops," he reported. He clicked around on his laptop and further detailed out what happened. "It was especially pronounced in classrooms three dash one, two dash four, and the Language Lab." Naru walked back to the other side of room where we had set up a detailed map on the white board and began to mark the locations with a marker. "No unusual images to report but three microphones picked up some sounds. Those were in the Art Room, the gym storeroom, and classroom two dash four."

3-1 is the bad-smell room, and 2-4, which had both temperature drops and noises apparently, is the one with the dog.

"Interesting," Naru said as he finished his markings. "Quite a response for our first day."

"Uh," I heard Yasu barely mutter as Naru began tapping his finger on the table, probably figuring out our next plan of action.

I decided to help Yasu out and explain. "Yeah, usually whenever we show up to a haunting, the spirits will hide at first since we're outsiders. They're normally very shy, so whenever you get a response that quickly it means the spirit is strong. Though, now that I think of it, we usually do get a response the first day and we have yet to have a spirit that isn't strong enough to give us trouble…"

"Oh, I see," Yasu said softly.

Naru stopped his tapping. "Now let's get to work," he said as Yasu and I came to the conclusion of our small talk. The rest of the team with the exception of Lin stood up, knowing that we would have to get moving soon. "Ms. Hara, comb the school and find every place you feel a spirit."

Masako nodded in confirmation.

"I'd like Ms. Matsuzaki to accompany her and drive out any spirits she finds."

"Okay," Ayako agreed.

"Mai will stay here so please keep in close contact. Do not take these spirits lightly. Use extreme caution. I'd like Monk and John to take care of the places we've mentioned," Naru pointed to the map behind him. "Once you have finished with those, link up with Ms. Hara and assist her.

"Sounds good," Monk said.

"Will do," John echoed.

"Lin and I will continue to investigate for more locations," Naru continued while Lin stood up. "You think you could give us a hand, Yasu?"

"Sure," Yasu answered.

"Mai," Naru looked straight at me.

"Yes?"

"Try not to fall asleep."

"I know…" I groaned.

BLIND

I was in base. I hadn't fallen asleep yet. And I even made it through the first ten minutes by myself!

…That wasn't much of an accomplishment. I even ended up somewhat sprawled against the table as I sat.

Come on, Naru. If I'm just sitting here, I'm gonna… get… a little… drowsy…

I tried to sit up, but my balance was, as usual, completely failing me.

No Mai! That was close, I almost fell over, quite literally, into sleep. Stay awake!

So in an attempt to wake up, I slapped the sides of my face.

Bad idea.

OW! …. I hit myself too hard….

I then opened my eyes to see a corridor.

Let's observe what is wrong with this sentence.

I should be in base.

I was not.

I should see nothing but black.

I see a blue-lit corridor.

Conclusion? I fell asleep. I really don't know what Naru expected to happen. It's almost like he wanted me to sleep.

Regardless of what my boss might be up to, I decided I might as well pay attention. I guessed it was the school, based on the windows across one wall and doors and bulletin boards on the other. Okay, what am I doing in the hallway?

"Mai," a familiar voice called. It sounded like Naru… But it wasn't.

"Gene," I said to the black-clad boy standing behind me. I walked over to him quickly. "You're back. Did something happen?"

"It's getting dangerous here," Gene said. "You should leave for your own safety."

"Huh?" Gene usually didn't have this serious of an expression… Quite suddenly, the area around us started to change. It was like someone drew with white chalk on a black board. The outlines of everything was still there, but there wasn't any specific details. Faint wisps filled the space, drifting around as they pleased, but mostly upward. "Gene, you see that?" I asked.

"Those are spirits," Gene explained. "There are many of them trapped here."

"It's just like in my dream last night," I said. The floor below my feet became lit with color. I looked down to find that the floor was transparent and that the area below me had been given color. Actually, the whole building and even the buildings and trees were transparent. I felt distorted, but Gene lightly put his hand on my shoulder as the feeling of being suspended passed quickly by and I was able to focus again.

Gray metal lockers lined the wall and stood on their own to make aisles in the room. The yellow walls looked dull as did the brown tiles on the floor. Wait… hey, that's the locker room.

Two figures stood in the room. A red-haired woman holding a stick thing and small figure in a bright robe… wait, no, a kimono. So that was… Masako? Then the red-haired woman was Ayako then.

Inside of a locker that the two stood in front of, a menacing purple orb… thing burned. I think Ayako was trying to exorcise it. What is that?

"I ask that my humble plea be heard," I heard Ayako say as she shook her branch back and forth.

Apparently, purple orb things don't care for exorcisms. It slid out of the locker and went past the ankles of Ayako and Masako straight through the door. Now is a good time to mention that yes, the door was closed. "Where's it going?"

I watched as the purple orb thing went into a room that seemed to be bisected by a glass wall of some sort. "The announcement room," Gene supplied, probably guessing that I wasn't really sure what I was looking at. "Now watch."

I did as ordered and watched. The announcement room already had a tenant in it, a less menacing white orb thing that faintly reminded me of the blobs that surrounded Lin. Did the occupation of the room bother the purple orb thing? No. It just surrounded and absorbed the other orb and gave a pulse of some sort before growing even more menacing than before.

"It got bigger," I said, shocked at what the heck just happened.

"This doesn't bode well for us," Gene said. "Well, mostly you guys, but I have to watch Naru so I'm stuck in the grouping too. The spirits are devouring each other and growing… like a virus. Pure evil. Listen Mai, it's too dangerous here for you."

"But Gene, I can't leave right now, what if Naru runs into trouble?" I said. Why was I so protective of Naru anyway?

"Fine," Gene gave in, interrupting my train of thought before it completely derailed. "But you should learn some warding magic, and whatever you do, don't go anywhere near any of those evil foxfires. Got it?" *3

I nodded. "Understood."

"Understood?" I heard Yasu's voice echo around me. I felt like I was surfacing from a pond or something. "What are you talking about?" I heard his voice more clearly this time.

I woke up, my eyes once again blind, or according to Gene, cursed. I sent my senses out only to find Yasu's face very close to mine. He was watching me sleep?

I stood up embarrassed. Damn, I was caught.

"If you sleeping on the job I'm gonna have to tell the Big Boss," Yasu threatened playfully… At least, I was hoping it was playfully. I laughed nervously.

Somehow, after a little skirmish over who would make it, this resulted in the two of us drinking coffee, mostly because I needed the caffeine and that Yasu somehow knew that asking for tea was probably a bad idea when I had just woken from an impromptu nap session. Frankly, I liked coffee a little bit better than tea… but that might have to do with a stronger caffeine kick. *4

"Hey Yasu?" I asked. "Don't you think it's kinda weird how every kid at this school is Ouija boarding? Oh, wait, you call it Orikiri-Sama, right?"

"Yeah," Yasu agreed. "Funny thing is there's all sorts of rules you have to follow. Like when you use a piece of paper, it can never be used again. Once you're done with it you have to dispose of it at a shrine. And you have to say an incantation."

"Really?" I was surprised. Who the heck made such a complex version of Ouija boarding?

"Yeah, it goes, 'On-orikiri-something-or-other'," Yasu mumbled. Real specific.

Still, it was something new to consider. "Hmph. Wow. I didn't know that," I voiced out. "I wonder why this thing got so popular with the entire school?"

"Hm… If you think about it, the whole thing is just something different to do," Yasu answered. "It's just novelty. Even though it's not quite as strange as our version here, even at my little sister's middle school it has become somewhat popular. *5 People always become overly obsessed with anything that's new or different… but there's no sense in analyzing a fad because it takes all the fun out of it." With that, Yasu took a drink of his coffee.

"You're a very rational person for your age, huh?" I admired.

"Yeah, I've heard a lot of people say I'm an old soul. That I'm a politician in training," Yasu said, though he didn't seem to found of the politician thing. "They'll say, 'I can never tell if you're really friendly or just really full of it.'" We gave some light laughter to the mostly empty base.

It was just the two of us, huh?

Yasu glanced over his shoulder the calendar, I guess on a whim, before giving a bit of grim expression. "Uh oh," he said.

"Huh?"

"It's been twelve days," he said. "There's gonna be another fire in the locker room."

I thought of my dream from earlier… hadn't the purple orb-er, foxfire come from the locker room? "It may not be in the locker room…" I ended up muttering out.

It was Yasu's turn to say, "Huh?"

"Oh I was just thinking out loud that's all!" I said, hoping to cover my foot-in-mouth moment. "I mean, the fire could be anywhere, like in the…. I don't know, in the announcement room?"

"What makes you say that?" Yasu asked.

I was saved from having to explain my weird dream by Monk and John opening the door.

Wait… this is Monk. This wouldn't be any better than my previous situation.

"Ah, hey guys. Do I see a budding romance here?" Monk teased from the doorway. "Aw, isn't puppy love cute?"

I groaned at his antics. "Monk! We're having a serious conversation!"

"There's no need to be embarrassed," Monk waved it off as he and John entered the room.

"Think you could maybe give us a minute?" Yasu said. I get a bad feeling from this. "We were just starting to hit it off. And now if you'll excuse us-"

And that's how John ended up hitting his head on the doorframe. Either he became flustered at what Yasu was implying, Yasu sparkled the priest backwards or, the most likely theory, Monk pushed the poor priest into the doorframe.

"Are you okay John?" I asked said John held his head as he kneeled on the floor. That had to have hurt.

In tending to John, I left Yasu and Monk alone.

That was probably a bad idea on my part.

I wasn't particularly paying attention, but I did hear what the two were talking about. "Listen kiddo," Monk said as he sat a hand on Yasu's shoulder. "I think it's about time you and I had a little chat."

"'Kay?" Yasu replied.

"I know you have a crush on Mai, but there's a time and place for this sort of thing. You gotta… ya know, get her in the right mood."

"Yeah, that makes sense. I'll try harder next time."

"So you do have a thing for Mai, huh?" That was what really brought my attention from John's head to the conversation at hand.

"Yeah, can't you tell?"

"Say what?!" I said, feeling my face heat up instantly.

"However," Yasu continued, and the bad feeling from earlier came back, "that Naru's cute as well. He's a stud. But uh, not like you." Yasu glanced sideways at Monk before he clasped Monk's hands with his own. "You're so hot."

It was then that I realized that yes, Yasu has sparkle powers that cause young priests and maidens to hit their heads rather hardly on wooden doorframes.

"You're kidding, right?" Monk's voice was strained.

"Yep."

"…That's not funny, man."

"I thought it was."

Monk sulked himself into a chair with a slightly depressed aura around him. "Now that really creeped me out…"

"It's just a little payback for interrupting us. So, how did everything go?" Yasu asked cheerily.

If possible, Monk sulked further. "Don't ask."

"That bad?" I asked John.

"Yeah, we're exorcising every place that Masako tells us to, but it's like we're not having any affect," John explained.

"That's weird," I said. Usually at least something happened. "Maybe they ran away?"

"Huh?" John asked.

"Oh, don't mind me," I laughed nervously, looking for a topic change. "Hey that reminds me! Monk, do you think you could teach me some warding magic?" I would ask John, but I had a sneaking suspicion you had to be a Christian for any of his spells to work. For Buddhism, you probably didn't have to be a believer.

"Huh?" Monk came out of his sulk. "What brought this up?"

"Well, I, uh," I stammered. I could not, COULD NOT, let them know about Gene. Not if I had a choice in the matter. "I thought I could maybe be of some help to you guys."

"If we have to start turning to you to perform exorcisms we're in big trouble," Monk murmured.

"Hey!" I protested. *6

Monk stood up, then quick as a flash had turned and was instructing me. "Hands like this," Monk said.

"Like this?" I mimicked him. The bottom of my palms were together, but not the rest of them. My thumbs were together all the way up my hand. My pointer and pinkie fingers were slightly bent but otherwise parallel to each other. My middle and ring fingers only touched at the last, er, section? that they bent at, and were bent slightly at the middle. It kinda reminded me of some sort of temple in a strange way.

"This is the Seal of the Immovable One. Stand up straight and then you say, 'Naumakusanmandabazaradankan'."

"… Huh?" That went straight over my head.

Apparently Monk noticed. Next thing I know, he wrote the words down, found a magnet, and slammed it onto the whiteboard (that is apparently magnetic). "It's a mantra," Monk said. He carefully enunciated each word as he said the chant again. "Nau-ma-ku-san-man-da-ba-za-ra-dan-kan. Say it three times. If that doesn't drive them away then make the Seal of the Sword and focus your will." Monk made another hand thing and I copied it. This time it was like grasping your fingers only with your fingers hidden inside of your palm. The pointer fingers came out and formed a triangle-shape by connecting only the pads. The thumbs ended up straight vertical against each other.

I tried the chant again. "Nau maku san manda bazara dan kan. Nau maku san manda bazara dan kan." I repeated this to myself, committing it to memory.

It had nothing to do with the intimidating look that Monk was giving me.

None at all.

(So basically it was ninety percent of the reason I was determined to be able to say this in my sleep. Don't tell Monk that.)

We settled down into seats and got more coffee. It seems that the four of us, us being Monk, Yasu, John (surprisingly enough), and I had a certain weakness for the bean drink.

"So, I don't know what to think about Masako," Monk sighed. "She says she can't see any spirits but can sense their presence. It's weird."

"Naru said that she's one of the best in Japan, right?" I said.

"Yeah…" Monk groaned painfully. "But she seems to be… Off. Masako is good at channeling spirits."

"Channeling spirits?"

"She summons a spirit and lets it possess her body. Then she can make prophecies, and answer questions. What she does is not too different from Orikiri-Sama."

"Ah, television programs frequently broadcast that," Yasu put his two cents in.

"Apparently she has got a lot of it right. But…" Monk almost looked pained. "Naru has said before, 'the only things spirits know have got to do with death'. I have never doubted this before, but when Naru said that I thought that might be the case. For example, I let Masako summon my Grandpa's spirit back from the dead. My Grandpa, possessing Masako, not only knows things that only my Grandpa and I would know, but can also answer my questions. 'How will my luck in Love be?' 'It's only so-so.' That type of conversation."

"Yeah," I nodded.

"The conversation between the spirit and myself is like that, but what really goes on?"

I...see. This is really difficult. John cut into the conversation. "Some time ago I was asked to help write an article. There are researchers who say that there are two types of mediums."

"Two types?" I questioned.

"Yes. Real mediums and ESPers," John said.

Monk nodded. "Ah, I'm not sure where but I have heard that before. It should be Professor Davis."

Davis? As in Oliver? Which means Naru… Shit.

"So you remember," John said. "What the Professor said, was, mediums need not have psychic powers."

"Ha?" I did not fully understand their conversation.

"That's why…" John seemed to be having a bit of trouble explaining. "Say; the medium can summon my Grandma's spirit, right?" John settled on an example. "Grandma's spirit borrows the mediums' body and says things that only Grandma and I would know. There are people who say, that my Grandma's spirit need not necessarily have possessed the medium's body."

"Huh? But didn't the medium know of things that only John and his Grandma should know?" I questioned.

"Yes. But, it might not be the spirit that tells the medium. The medium might have ESP… there's a chance she's a psychometrist."

"Psycho…? What is that?" Yasu asked.

"Psychometrist. That is a person with psychometry," Monk answered. "This 'psychometry' is the power to be able to sense the history or related events through an object. For example, you pick up a bag on the street. A psychometrist would be able to see the past and the future of the bag; what type of person the bag's owner was, what he is doing now, what he will do after that."

"Is it like that?" I asked.

John nodded. "Yes. Exactly. Professor Davis himself is a psychometrist, that's probably why he came up with that theory."

"This Professor Davis, is he that person with psycho-kinesis (PK)?" I said. I decided to play innocent. And I was double checking my facts. If I had to keep Naru's secrets then I might as well know a stalker-level amount of stuff about him.

"Yes," Monk answered. "Professor Oliver Davis. He was a researcher in England's SRP – Society of Psychical Research. Not only was he a talented psychometrist, he was also able to use PK. He is of a minority of psychics who is able to use both PK and ESP. Professor Davis has a brother named Eugene Davis, who was a medium. The professor had mentioned before that Eugene Davis was a pure medium. Although Eugene did not know German, if he summoned a German spirit he would speak German; if it was a Greek, he would speak Greek. Such occurrences are very rare. It should be impossible unless he was possessed by a spirit. However, amongst the mediums, there are some who speak Japanese regardless of the nationality of the spirit summoned." *7

Huh…. Is that so. Naru, you are really damn lucky I know about your little secret because it seems like I'm gonna have to help you keep it a secret. I barely knew that Society of Psychical Research should say 'SPR' not 'SRP' and my English skills were… well, they're getting there. I don't know why Naru kept the name of this company the same, but … Naru has only Monk's lack of English skills to thank that Monk hadn't noticed anything too suspicious. "Is that how summoning a spirit works?" I asked, bring my train of thought back to the conversation.

John nodded. "Not long ago I saw a program of Itako (a spirit medium in the north east regions of Japan) channeling on television," the priest said. "At that time Itako summoned Marilyn Monroe. To summon Monroe alone is hilarious, but that Monroe could even speak Japanese… Overall, I felt it was very strange and very funny."

"Is it?" Yasu asked. I'm just glad I'm not the only clueless one right now.

"There are such cases, but on the other hand, there are also mediums like Eugene Davis, Rosemary Brown and Frederic Thompson," Monk said.

"Ha…?" both Yasu and I said.

Monk decided to explain and began talking. "Mrs. Brown composed music with the help of spirits. She supposedly had no musical training herself, but could make music through summoning a spirit. The spirits that were summoned include Beethoven and Chopin and other composers, so some of her music was even orchestral styled. The music was completely in the style of the various composers, and from a musical perspective they appeared to be very highly received.

"As for Thompson it was drawing. He let the spirit of a painter called Robert Swain Gifford possess his body, and allowed it to draw. The drawings were all sceneries, places that Gifford visited when he was alive; furthermore, they were places he never mentioned a desire to draw to his friends. More incredibly, Thompson had neither visited that location, nor seen a photograph of the place. Of course, the art was completely in the style of Gifford."

"Huh…" I said in awe. "There are some amazing people out there."

John nodded. "Despite all these, amongst the mediums there are those who excel at answering questions and making predictions. Professor Davis also once said, rather than calling users of this type of power 'mediums', they are more likely to be ESPers. Personally, he did not believe answers and prophecies and such were passed on by spirits."

"Hm," was all Yasu had to say.

"So it was like that." Monk said quietly. "Masako would be considered a medium of the latter type. Whether it is answering questions or making prophecies, she is excellent. In other words, rather than calling Masako a medium, she is more likely to be a psychometrist. She also said that she finds it easier with spirits that have a stronger connection."

Yasuhara sighed, looking concerned. "It's really complicated."

For no reason at all I found that I simply could not relax. "As for this, I know… But what exactly is going on? Did it just change such that Masako does not have the ability to see spirits?" I asked.

"I'm not saying she is completely incapable of that," Monk said. "But if we consider 'Masako can see spirits', it is more likely that she has a 'clear vision' through an object, the school… although I'm not too sure myself. That's why Masako need not necessarily be able to see those spirits. Right now, right here we might be swamped by spirits Masako could not feel."

"I see…"

"Mai, do you understand?"

"Ah… I think so. Though I feel I may get a headache from all of this."

Monk sighed. "Me too. It's because we are thinking about some unimaginable things."

"Exactly," I said. "We should just leave the heavy thinking to Naru." And that way no one will think heavily about Naru and his abilities, or right now, his supposed lack thereof.

We were quiet for a moment before Monk got a strange look on his face. "What about you Mai?" he asked. "Do you sense anything?"

"Geez," I said. "You can't put me on the spot like that!"

"Remember earlier when I said there would be a fire in the locker room?" Yasu said. "You corrected me, saying it could be in the announcement room."

John and Monk turned to face me. "Really?" Monk asked.

Dammit Yasu! I stuttered out an answer. "Well, I was taking a nap and… it was in a dream I had," I explained.

"A dream?" Monk questioned.

With that, I had no choice but to describe my dream while editing out the entire 'I also met our boss's dead twin brother' thing.

"I see," Monk gave a contemplative look after I finished.

"Like I told you, it was just a stupid dream," I said.

I don't know where the hell he pulled it out from, but next thing I know Monk is giving me a pillow. "Okay Mai, be a good girl and sleep!"

"I'm not tired, Monk!" I said, lowering the pillow off of my face. After a power nap and caffeine I was good to go until I crashed in about three hours.

"Whether you like it or not your dreams have meaning," Monk said. "This is purely for collecting information now sleep."

"Yes Mai, please go and sleep," John urged as well. "Do you want Monk or me to sing for you? Yasu can be involved too."

This is why there should never be only one female present in an SPR case. One hint of psychic anything and they go insane.

"It's just a dream!" I protested. Does Monk really think falling asleep would be that easy? And since when did John get in on this?!

"Not possible," John said. "Masako and Ayako did exorcise the locker room earlier, so maybe you're on to something."

"Come on!" I groaned. "It's just a coincidence!"

"Don't try to play it off, Mai. You've had dreams before that related to a case," Monk pointed an accusing finger in my face.

"Did you know?" John said. "This was researched by Charles Tart and others: dreams and ESP have a very deep connection."

"Ha…"

"Especially the initial cycles of REM sleep. It's known to experience ESP type phenomenon then," John marched through in a more steadfast manner than I thought possible of him.

"Yes. A more accurate way of putting it is d-ASC, discrete-Altered State of Consciousness," Monk came in.

Wait a minute...

"This state of the consciousness dissociating is the strongest, when mediums summon, or when ESPers use their powers of psychometry," Monk said. "Just as Naru said, you have latent ESP. Furthermore you got the part about Ayako doing the exorcism right. Your dreams definitely have meanings. Go to sleep."

I shoved the stupid pillow into Monk's chest. "You want me to go to sleep right on cue?"

"Forget it."

It was Yasuhara who piped up.

"Even if it is Mai, it is troubling to be forced by others like this."

Exactly, exactly.

"And she does not seem to believe in her own abilities."

Yes, thank you!

"We can't rely on Masako. We were just grasping at last straw that you are, Mai. Perhaps, like Masako's ability to see spirits, you would not be able to accurately predict this situation."

"That's right," I said.

"But…." Oh no. "Tonight we will find out," Yasuhara said with certainty. "More accurately, tomorrow morning we'll find out if Mai's right soon enough. If there is a fire in the announcement room then it will prove that Mai's dreams have relevance, and then Mai can have more confidence in her abilities. And if she does end up being correct I'd like to see her more involved in the case-solving process."

I groaned. What was Yasu doing this time?

"Since when have you been Mai's personal manager?" Monk asked.

"Since now," Yasu answered.

Really… I'll follow your wishes then… Or not.

"You two keep trying to one-up each other like you're related," John commented.

I ignored the other occupants of the room. I'm tired of Monk running his mouth about whatever he wants. Just because I've been right in the past doesn't mean it'll come true this time!

At dusk everyone gathered and Monk and John explained the entirety of the situation. Although I had anticipated it from the start, Ayako and Masako gave me cold looks. Contrastingly Naru and Lin remained expressionless. The blobs, however, seemed to be inspecting me closely, even the one that seemingly hated me.

Before Ayako could let out her sharp tongue to speak, Naru raised his hand to ask for silence. Well, I say ask, but with Naru it really means more along the lines of 'demand'. "Yasuhara is right," he said. "We only need to see where the fire occurs to find out. Lin-" Naru turned to Lin who stood at his back, waiting like an attached spirit, "set up equipment in the Announcement Room."

Really? Is it alright to believe the dream I had? I will not be held responsible, do you understand me?

With unsettled feelings, I moved the equipment into the Announcement Room. I asked Naru where I should set up some of the equipment. He swift replied with, "Over there", with a confidence of a psychic. I was a little suspicious until I realized that Naru was psychic.

…If there was no fire I would become a laughing stock. Even though it wasn't exactly pleasant, I really hoped I was right.

Later that night, or more accurately the next morning at 4:32:24 AM, that's exactly what happened.

A fire broke out from the cool wall in the Announcement Room.

Day 4

After a bit of hard work and a lot of foam, the fire was put out.

Due to the fact that, well, it was a fire we had to look forward to, we set up John and Lin outside the Locker Room—John is the only one Lin seems to not be completely bitter towards in the group besides Naru—and Yasu and Monk were set up outside the Announcement Room. Realizing that I would be useless in watching a monitor, Monk invited me along as well.

And that led us to now, with Ayako complaining about a chipped nail or something when all she did was walk very slowly with Masako to the Announcement Room and share in the 'Give Mai Complicated Looks' Club that her and Masako had started. Not that I blame them. I was suddenly being a useful psychic when usually that was Masako and Ayako…. Well, she's Ayako.

Back to being in the scorched Announcement Room… "What did I tell ya, Mai?" Monk said, still holding a fire extinguisher as we assessed the damage.

I don't believe this. I was right… I never really thought it would actually happen. I mean, I'm glad I'm able to help besides just being a gopher all the time, but…

"Still, this is more damage than we've heard of before," Monk said. "It did more than scorch the walls."

"Yeah, I've never seen it this bad," Yasu confirmed.

Naru turned to me. "Where else are the foxfires supposed to be?"

"Let's see…" I thought back to the dream. "The Printing Room, the Language Lab, and the Nurse's Office were the bigger ones. But…"

"But what?" Naru pressed.

"The chance that I know is pretty slim, right?" Mostly, I didn't feel comfortable with the thought that I was even more different from everyone else, even more so than I already was. I'm blind, did I really need to be psychic too?

"I'm not counting on you all that much," Naru said bluntly.

Somehow, his answer pissed me off. "Yeah, I wouldn't expect you to!"

"I've got some bad news, Naru," Monk said while he and John looked over the camera I had previously set up. "Looks like your camera here is toast." Poor thing. It was rather pathetic looking right now. Naru had previously and somewhat stupidly rushed in and grabbed the tape currently in Lin's custody.

Talk about a roll of tape costing more than a person's life, the shared thought of the group was 'This absurd scientist is going to get himself killed and we'll most likely be the ones that'll have to retrieve his sorry carcass'. Then I thought of Gene and decided to focus on the camera again.

This poor thing, the camera was done for.

"Oh, that's alright," Naru said to Monk's earlier assessment. "Insurance covers it."

"Wait, it does?" I said. Then I realized… "Naru…" Said narcissist looked away from the glass—cleverly looking like he checking for damage but was either doing his 'Consult Twin Image' thing or checking himself out—and faced me directly. "Remember when you asked me to be your assistant because I could never afford to pay you back for the camera I broke? Did you tell me that just so you could get some free help out of me? Promise you'll tell the truth."

Naru walked towards me and sat a hand on my shoulder. "You're getting smarter and smarter every day. You might just get too smart for your own good." And with that, Naru the Narcissist sashayed out of the room and down the hallway, presumably towards base.

"WHY YOU-!" I yelled as Monk held me back from taking a mirror and acquainting it very closely to Naru's face. "HOW DARE YOU TRICK ME!"

"Mai he's not worth it!" Monk protested as I struggled against him.

"NARU!"

BLIND

I can't believe he took advantage of me like that!

The others had hoped by locking me in the girl's room, they could cool me down and keep Naru alive (or at least mostly in one piece).

It hadn't worked.

Sure I'll admit it, I was naïve back then, but the least he could do is be honest! Though he did give me a really cool job…

I was patrolling around, making sure the equipment was running and that no one had messed with it between classes. They eventually had let me out of the girl's room and so instead of storming into base and potentially harming Naru I realized that protesting going in would work better. Partially because if I wasn't in base, he couldn't exactly give me orders or make me make him tea, and if he wanted me to do something he'd have to find me. Knowing Naru, he'd probably go alone. Sure, I'd be charged for assault but what did he expect to happen? Me to forgive him and attempt, key word being attempt, to make him baked goods of peace and goodwill?

Mostly though, I knew that if I did blow my top completely and attack Naru, Lin would probably be digging my grave within the next five minutes.

"Hey, you," I heard an irritatingly familiar voice. Dammit. I should have chanced it with Lin. Matsuyama stood there in his usual sneering fashion. "Are you people done yet?"

Ugh, not him again. I just had to run into this irritating bastard.

"I heard there was another fire this morning," I could hear the scathing in Matsuyama's tone. "I guess your silly little 'exorcisms' didn't take."

"Well, sir," I tried to respond. Monk had specifically told me to at least try to not kill Matsuyama during the case. I noticed he hadn't said anything about after. Besides, it's no use to preach a pig.

"The main problem with you people is the only place where ghosts exist is in your imaginations," Matsuyama said. "You exploit weak-minded people to earn a buck."

"Excuse me, sir, but I really need to get back to work now," I said. I really couldn't stand this man's presence. He really seemed to have it in for me especially. I tried walking away.

Did it work?

No.

"Would you like to know what happens to those who ignore their studies by wasting their time with this occult nonsense?" Matsuyama bellowed after me. "It happened to a student of ours." I was going to keep walking… but that had me stop cold. "He became so obsessed with the dark side of life that it eventually led to his demise."

"Yes sir," I snipped at him "We're aware of what happened to Sakauchi."

"Is that right?" Matsuyama said. Damn that entitled tone of his! "Watch out that you don't end up just like him. I'm sure he's regretting what he did in the afterlife."

"He's had some kind of bad experience happen at this school."

"So if I understand you correctly, you're basically not sorry for what happened to your student, are you sir?" I said, clenching my fists tightly.

"What? I never said any such thing!"

"Well I'm sorry," not really, "but that sure is the way that it sounded to me." I tried to walk off again but Matsuyama reached towards me.

You touch me I will punch you-!

Our little standoff was interrupted by the screams of students down the hall.

I immediately rushed down to the source—go figure, room 2-4—with Matsuyama trailing a bit more slowly behind me.

"Mai, what's going on?" Monk asked as the rest of SPR rushed up as I reached the door.

"I don't know! I just got here!" I said as I pulled open the door.

A purple haze that I recognized as very similar to a foxfire engulfed the room. In the center of it was another dog.

This time, though, it seems that Fido had some freaking steroids with his kibbles because he was HUGE. As in, an entire desk was in his jaws and I'm fairly sure that if he felt like it, that desk would be toast if he tried to crush it in his jaws.

"It smells awful," Masako commented. And she was right. Could this even really be the same dog as last time? If it is, to have this smell… it must have devoured that will-o-the-wisp…

The dog seemed to notice us in the doorway, and as a welcome present, threw the whole desk at us. We dodged and got the spectacularly good feeling as we saw it hit the wall with such force that the wood broke and the metal got bent out of shape.

I noticed that the dog staring directly at me. Monk must've noticed too. "Mai, careful," Monk secured me in his arms. The students were terrified, the dog was going to eat all of us, and he was worried about just me because why?! Because I apparently look like good dog food!

The dog stepped forward, the floor shaking as it set down its large paw and drool dripped into small pools on the floor from the sharp teeth in its huge jaw.

Then… it disappeared into thin air. The purple haze disappeared and I have never been so glad to be back in my usual velvety blackness.

"I've never encountered a spirit like that," Masako said calmly. "It's as if it had physical substance."

The students were terrified and some of them were injured. It was awful. And yet, all of SPR was rather calm for what had happened. Even after a moment I had calmed down. "Excuse me," Naru said to Matsuyama, but the councilor was in shock. "Excuse me, Matsuyama!"

"Huh?" Matsuyama turned his head dumbly to Naru.

"You need to call an ambulance. We have some injured students here," Naru said calmly. Matsuyama took his orders and ran for a phone while Naru started helping the students in the room.

"So was that the same dog we had a run-in with yesterday?" I asked.

"If it was, it's grown since we saw it last," Monk answered.

"It must be getting stronger," Naru said as he helped one boy who might have dislocated his shoulder.

I think Masako was trying to pick up something with her psychic powers as she walked slowly forward. She gave a small gasp before collapsing onto her knees.

"Masako!" I ran forward. "Are you okay? What's wron..g…"

I found myself floating in a sea of wisps. What the-? A cold feeling pierced into my stomach. It's happening again.

A dark purple, now almost black form was devouring the lighter spirits.

It's just like in my dream yesterday. No! Get away from it! If you get too close you'll get eaten!

A white form was trying to escape from the cloud. Oh my God! Is that…. Sakauchi?

Sakauchi tried to escape.

He really did.

I wanted to help so badly…

But in the end….

He was eaten just like the rest.

It is him….

The mass of darkness grew stronger. I gave out a pulse that, even from across the distance between me and that thing, I felt it push against me like a strong wind.

It almost felt like… blood… splattering against my skin.

I was back in the real world, but sound was only coming to me fuzzily. I didn't even bother to sense around me, alone in my own world. Replaying what I just had to witness.

"Are… you two okay?" Monk's voice came through and snapped me out of my trance. I blinked before inspecting my hand.

I had felt blood splatter against me, against my face and hands and chest and basically everywhere, but there wasn't any of it to be found. Not a trace.

Masako was crying into her hands as the members of SPR formed a loose circle and watched us. If we have a camera in here and it isn't dead, then I'm sure Lin was watching us from base as well.

"What happened?" Monk asked with concern. "The two of you just fainted…. It scared us."

I took in Masako crying. We both fainted, huh? "I take it you saw it too," I said softly to the girl next to me.

"Yes," Masako said, removing her trembling hands to reveal tears. "Sakauchi's gone. He disappeared."

BLIND

We waited until we were settled in base again before getting into the unpleasantness that had just happened.

"It's exactly like what happened in Mai's dream," Masako recounted. "The spirits have now begun to consume each other. Sakauchi… he was absorbed by another…"

"Hold on," Ayako said. "So any spirit we drive out isn't being exorcised. It just flees to another location where it's eaten by another, bigger spirit?"

"And then the spirits that cannibalize the others become stronger," John added in. "It's quite frightening."

And I thought it was all just a dream. If this continues to escalate, then…

"So what do ya think we should do?" Monk asked Naru.

"It may be wise to hold off on the exorcisms for now. There's no telling what will happen if they run off this time," Naru said.

This is getting worse…

The scary and tense atmosphere was somewhat broken by the arrival of Yasu. "Um, excuse me."

Everyone's attention went to Yasu. "What is it?" Naru asked. His voice was getting quick again.

"I heard something that was a little… disturbing," Yasu walked in with a folder-notebook thing in his arm.

"And what's that?" Naru asked.

"Well…" Yasu said. "I traced back to the first use of Orikiri-Sama in the school. My conversation with Mai yesterday got me thinking." Yasu started flipping through the notebook folder. "It looks like the Orikiri-Sama fad began shortly after the second semester… There were two groups: the freshman class and the art club and it seems they both started using it at the same time. But there's more to it than that, and unfortunately its worse. Not only was Sakauchi a member of the art club, but he was also a freshman at the time. Now I'm not drawing any conclusions from this, but it is interesting. It definitely seems like it could be relevant."

"Although it's an interesting development, it doesn't change the fact that the practice spread through the school," Naru said. "Countless séances took place, spirits were summoned as a direct result. However, there's still a piece missing. Something strange and nefarious is happening in this school. Regardless of how many séances were performed, I seriously doubt amateurs could summon such a large amount of spirits. So what now…? This is a tough one."

If Naru's admitting that it's a tough one….

We are about as toast as the camera from the Announcement Room.

Yasuhara hummed lightly to himself, seeming to have realized something. "I wonder if it has any relation to that?"

"That?" Naru questioned.

Yasuhara cheerily replied with, "Haven't you heard? This school is built on a cemetery."

Eagerly anticipating his reply, everyone was immediately very disheartened. Monk looked a little exasperated. "That's nothing much, it is very common," he sighed, and tilted his head backwards.

"Ah, you think I'm lying. No, this is true. This place is called the Ryokuryo Ruins, it became a cemetery in the Nara era. If you dig in the field, tombstones and human remains can be found."

We shared a glance.

"Is this true, Yasuhara?" Naru asked.

"It really is true. Will this have any connection to this incident?"

Naru sank deeper into thought. "So that's how it is… The so-called Old Tomb is the place where the Kekkai was erected to prevent spirits from trawling the Earth and causing hauntings. The spirits bound in the ruins have emerged in large numbers… that shouldn't be the case. The floating spirits summoned into the school are unable to leave due to the Kekkai… there's a possibility that it's like that. Then, there are large numbers of spirits floating around the school. Indeed… the spirits could even follow a person and that person might even bring it home… I've never heard of this theory before."

"A Kekkai is barrier, right? If so, then this theory is very plausible," John, the one who is perhaps not as familiar to some of our terms, said with a bit more energy than before.

I was taking notes. My teachers would be so proud. Indeed, there hasn't been a theory about the spirits causing strange incidents within and also outside the school.

Naru tapped the table with his finger. "With this we can account for half of the incident. But, there's the other half… Why are the students here capable of summoning so many spirits with such ease?"

"Could it be that somewhere in the ruins, there is something that can summon and attract spirits?" Yasu suggested.

"Right from the start the props used in spell casting have an innate ability to affect spirits… But, what is going on here? This is a place where the spirits are sealed," Monk said.

"If it is used to attract spirits…, there are small special differences from those used in spell casting," Naru pointed out.

"So it is. The spirits are enclosed in the grave, the grave is then sealed; perhaps there are places where such spells are used. If spirits are gathered around it always feels different. Nothing seems to work here, in this school," Monk said as both he and Ayako furrowed their brows in thought.

"At least we learned something new," Naru groaned softly, crinkled his brow and sank deeper into thought.

Basically, we still got nothing.

BLIND

"What was I thinking? I should have had someone else come with me," I said as I walked down the corridor alone. I was forced to take flashlight even though I didn't need one and the only reason I knew it was working was because the glass at the end would immediately heat up or cool down when turned on or off.

No, it wasn't the dark that scared me obviously. Not even the abandoned feel of the whole building.

It was the fact that paranoia and something telling me to book it back to Tokyo was definitely taking its toll.

"This school is the creepiest place in the world at night, according to Yasu, and paranoia is completely agreeing," I muttered to myself. It wouldn't be totally unwise to be concerned for my mental state. "I'm just waiting for a monster to jump out at me."

Time for a pep talk. "Come on, just stay focused and it'll all be okay," I said to myself. "All I need to do is get the tape and head back to base."

And so the lone girl foolishly steps into the biology room. "Okay, cool, I'll just grab this and go," I said as I found the camera and pressed the eject button…

… I did press the eject button, right? "Oh man. Naru's gonna kill me if a broke it!"

I heard a fizzle of electricity. That usually meant only one thing… "What? You've got to be kidding me, a power outage? Naru is going to be pissed. First the cameras, then this… talk about bad timing."

Then I noticed something odd. The glass of my flashlight was cooling off rapidly. I tried clicking it off and on. Nothing. A power outage wouldn't affect my flashlight… I've got a bad feeling about this. I'm just gonna turn around and head back to base. I tried to open the door behind me. I could have sworn I left it open… "Come on door, open already! There isn't even a lock on this thing!" I tried to pull it open with all my strength, but it didn't budge.

Children's laughter started to fill the room. A faint light showed itself and I really, really wished I hadn't looked. Children were banging on the windows, evil smiles stretching themselves across ghoulish faces.

Children… what are they doing here? It's the middle of the night! But they aren't… living children… are they?

The laughter disappeared to be replaced by the shaking of the entire room. Boxes and jars crashed to the ground. Something wet slipped around on the ground, making my shoes wet.

That smells like… what was it? Formalin… Formaldehyde…? Shit! Where's it coming from?

… The jars! This is a biology room!

I started banging on the door like crazy. "Somebody, help me! Let me out! Please somebody help me!" Even as I yelled and banged, I felt myself getting weaker…

"Please… help… me…" I scarcely got out as I fell limply to the floor.

I couldn't move.

I couldn't feel my arms or legs…

I couldn't feel… anything….

BLIND

These stupid things… but they are necessary, I think, so they remain.

*1 Okay, so for the record, in the novels, it describes briefly how she spent the rest of the evening in equipment set up while Ayako just went ahead to bed. Mai goes in, has freaky dream, looks at clock and realizes not even ten minutes have passed (which tells you about how her dreams and abilities seem to work). In the manga and anime, she just literally walks into the dream with no explanation afterwards. So I made one. Deal with it. :D (You know I love you guys!)

*2 I just found something in the translated novel that I though was good but couldn't add in. Of all the members gathered here only Masako has this sort of ability. That is to say, if we can't rely on Masako, we were as good as blind. It was really worrisome. You can guess why it didn't make the cut, but I found it amusing… Only me…? Okay then. Also, the bit after that after Monk speaks for the first time until John speaks? Novel. Tweeked, mind you, but still novel. Not mine.

*3 Mai will now proceed to go to every single foxfire in the entire building except for I think… maybe one?

*4 Actually, this is true. Mai seems to like coffee more than tea. That might have been to balance out giving Naru a tea addiction.

*5 Yes, Yasu has a little sister in middle school. I did not make that up.

*6 So, um, in the novel, there is one word in Mai's thoughts when Monk says this. Fuck. Seriously. It's mostly blanked out, mind you, but how many four letter words out there that start with F? I highly doubt it would have been Four or Fork. It was actually pretty funny to me. It just came out of nowhere. And I really, REALLY need to lay off the sugar… I don't think I'm gonna be sleeping tonight. At all. ANYWAY, so about the entire Christian and having to be a believer thing… That was, again, in the novels. You apparently can scatter salt and say, "In the name of the Lord, I order you, evil spirits, be gone!" But for Monk's little chant, you do not have to be a believer. So if you're anything like me and actually tried it out when no one was around, it's quite possible it might have worked. Maybe. No guarantees. Also, the first seal is also known as the Seal of Acalanatha. No I don't know what that means. And since I seem determined to make the most out of one star-asterisk-thing, I'll go ahead and tell you that apparently, somehow, John hits his head on the whiteboard, but if you look at the layout of the room in the anime, it doesn't work, so I'm just gonna make do with a doorframe and some Yasu sparkles.

*7 As you can probably guess, that whole section is from the novel. I put the asterisk in the middle for a reason. See that spelling error? SRP. Naru is really damn lucky that Monk can't spell in English or he would have been fucked over from the start. THIS IS WHY WE SING THE ALPHABET SONG OKAY! SO GENIUS LITTLE JERKS LIKE NARU CAN'T LIE TO US FOR A YEAR AND A HALF. I know it was justified and it was to find his brother and yadayadayada… but moving past that… What does John do in his spare time other than fail at wrapping up Christmas cakes for little orphan children? Like, seriously, I wanna know.

-THINGS I DIDN'T ADD IN-

It's said that Eugene Davis is 'One of Professor Davis's brothers'. Could you imagine if there was more of them? We can barely handle the two we have!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Sorry I didn't give you guys… anything… hehe… I'm gonna hide in Aura Kingdom again.

TIL NEXT TIME!