Before you kill me for taking forever… again… Let me explain.
LOOOOOOOONG story short, I at first was kinda procrastinating on this since this episode is one of my least favorites. Seriously, this episode almost causes physical pain for me. But that was only for a week or two. Then, I got sick. I finally got better, and continued on a trip to Chicago that I had to go on. Then… I had to take exam-like tests to get out of exams. I basically took exams to get out of taking exams. I get out of school, help with my own brother's graduation, and then… I had surgery. Fun. After a week of recovery, I am sent to a class thing for about a week. Literally the next day, I'm at a camp for about a week (I actually missed the first day because of the class). Then I thought "Oh, okay, I'll just write it now, hopefully get it out on Mai's birthday (July 3rd)"…. The universe said "LOL, nope!" to that plan and I ended up with my friend's family for the Fourth of July weekend. I had ever so slightly burned hands (note to self—when a friend's drunk uncle thinks putting a giant log on a campfire while you are a fire tender is a wonderful idea, hide his beer to deter him for long enough that he forgets about it) for a while there. Then, I had more camp… A lot more camp. And now, I have school starting again tomorrow and I really don't want to just yet... So in a TOTALLY (yeah, right) not-guilt-tripping way, please forgive me as I give blood, sweat, and tears into this damn chapter. Also note—it's too damn hot here.
On a slightly better note, I got some really good ideas for this chapter, and I tried to make it the best that I could… I think I owe you guys that much. Oh, and I might have mentioned how this one guy kinda hates me before? Well, things are improving there, and he no longer completely ignores me like I'm the plague. Also, my friend that was having a bit of an issue psychologically/physically seems to be better now, but you guys wouldn't really know that since the whole thing went up and over in the time span between chapters. I know, I suck.
(Although, seriously, if I take this long again, spam my PM box with guilt trips until I either A-update or B-block you. If you're doing it right, it should be A WAAAAAAAY before B.)
I don't own Ghost Hunt. Be thankful.
ENJOY THE CHAPTER!
BLIND
I was attacked by evil spirits. Luckily, when I came to, I was surrounded by my friends which was a huge relief… but the nurse's office wasn't safe either… The ceiling collapsed and I was nearly killed. After that, Naru realized something. The hauntings plaguing the school are being caused by an obscure form of cursing called 'Kodoku', and the papers used for Orikiri-Sama are the talismans for it…
And who is the one that is sentenced to die?
One man.
A school counselor.
Hideharu Matsuyama.
BLIND
January
Day 5
"Matsuyama?" I said, shocked. "Wait, you don't mean that teacher that's been bugging us, do you?"
Almost as if on cue, the door opened. It's him. Matsuyama himself stood there, a very smug smile across his face.
"You were asked to leave," he said, "but it doesn't look like you're packing up. Are you coming up with more bogus ghost stories to tell?"
"I think it would be in your best interest if you didn't hear our discussion," Naru said, straightening out from where he leaned against the table.
"Are you trying to plan how to justify your fee or something?" Matsuyama scoffed.
Monk had to cover my mouth. I still managed to slip out a "Jerk" regardless. One of the lesser insults I was saying, but definitely one of the few that didn't include cursing. I had just about enough of this guy.
"It's about time you cut your losses, son," Matsuyama continued. "We know you're a fraud."
Did Matsuyama just call Naru 'son'? …I think I just felt the room drop a degree or two.
Naru simply held out one of the talismans. "What is that?" Matsuyama asked, though he looked bored.
"Sir, were you aware that Ouija boarding has become popular among the students at this school?" Naru asked calmly.
"What, you mean that stupid game?" Matsuyama answered.
"This is the board used for what is called 'Orikiri-Sama'," Naru continued. "Someone has been spreading these around school without realizing the dangerous implications."
"Why are you telling me this?" Matsuyama asked. He actually seemed interested now.
"These talismans are used solely for preforming a death curse," Naru said.
"Death curse?" Matsuyama let out a small laugh. "That's ridiculous. You expect me to believe a piece of paper can kill someone? Who do you think this silly death curse is for?"
Naru looked at him for a moment. "You," he said, and although his tone was even, I swear a heard a bit of an edge in his clipped tone. "And it's very real."
Now Matsuyama was paying attention, and he shrunk back a bit with a slight gasp.
"Isn't that right, Lin?" Naru faced the paper towards Lin. I could almost hear mocking in his tone.
Well, it looks like Naru has had about enough with this guy too.
Lin took the paper. "Yes," he said evenly. If I didn't know him better—actually, never mind, maybe he did draw out his answer…
"Hey, that's not something you joke about!" Matsuyama said, panicked.
"Takigawa," Lin held out the paper towards Monk, "are you able to read Sanskrit?"
"Hm," Monk said, "Yeah, more or less."
"Look at the talisman," Lin instructed. "The name written on the right side is the person being cursed."
"Let's see here," Monk looked over the paper at the weird, worm-like strokes on the right side. "That can only be read as Hideharu Matsuyama."*1
"What?" Matsuyama gasped.
"It doesn't necessarily have to be written in Sanskrit. In fact, on the left side of the talisman, the age of the cursed is in kanji," Lin said. "Naru, would you mind reading it?"
"When it comes to kanji, I'm pretty clueless," Naru said. Oh yeah, he's actually English, right? Ha, even Naru doesn't know everything.
"It says 'Tou sai go juu san, which translates roughly to '53 years old this year'," Lin said. *2
"If I were to guess," Naru said, almost mockingly, "I'd say he's around that age."
"Writing out the kanji in this way is more of a formality," Lin said. "However…"
"If Matsuyama was written normally, anyone could be the suspect. That's why they went through the trouble of writing it in Sanskrit," Naru continued.
"But, who the hell would do this?" Matsuyama demanded.
"The person who made Orikiri-Sama so popular was a freshman in the art club. This is an advanced form of cursing no ordinary student could easily come up with. It would have had to been by someone who had done extensive research on the subject," Naru explained.
Matsuyama gasped. "Damn Sakauchi! It was him, that punk! How could he do something like this? And why did he choose me?"
The room was silent for a moment. Naru answered in. "It should be him. This incident started around September, just at the start of the second semester. It was mid-September when it really caught on. After that time, Sakauchi-kun committed suicide. I'm afraid he… lit the sparks, and saw the sparks light a fire, then sought his own death."
I thought of the boy I saw on the roof. Sakauchi…
"But why did he choose me?!"
"Mister Matsuyama." Surprisingly, it was Yasu who spoke up. Even more surprising was the angry glare on his face. "Forgive me, but would you like to know the reason why Sakauchi chose you?"
"Why?" Matsuyama said bitterly.
"Because of how you treated him. His suicide note simply said, 'I'm not a dog'. We were all aware of how the school was trying to control us, as if we were dogs," Yasu said. "And if you were to ask any one of the students who personified this kind of treatment, they'd name you. And I would agree with them whole-heartedly."
I felt something pull at my mind. A boy, getting his book taken away. 'I thought I told you not to bring these kinds of books to class!' Matsuyama scolded. 'If you allow your mind to be warped with this crap, you'll never amount to anything.' The book, torn in half at the spine… The boy gasping… 'Maybe you should try reading one of your textbooks before you waste your time with this!" Then the book again, now thrown into a rubbish bin. The boy, left alone in the classroom…
Ah, but that couldn't have been anything, right?
"The identity of the culprit is of little use to us at this point," Naru said. "The dye has already been cast against you. Not even the originator of curse could stop it now."
"Well," Matsuyama huffed, "what can you do?"
Naru looked over his shoulder to Lin. "Do we have a solution?"
"Nothing yet," Lin said.
Matsuyama said nothing, only straightening himself up in response.
"You could reverse the zuhzou, right?" Naru asked.
"I could do that," Lin said, "but are you certain you would want to?"
"We don't have much choice, now do we?" Naru said. "I doubt many people would mourn him if he died, but we can't stand idly by when he knows it's going to happen. Reverse the zuhzou."
"You're going through with it?" I asked.
"We'll be turning the zuhzou curse back on the person who started it," Naru said. "We have very little time before the last few spirits finish consuming each other and complete the zuhzou. Once that occurs, death is all that awaits Mr. Matsuyama… Most likely in a very painful, brutal way. But before that happens…"
He was interrupted by a soft laughter from Matsuyama. "I'll be spared, won't I?" he laughed. "I didn't do anything. Why should I be the one to die? I'm innocent!" His crazed laughter softly sounded through the room.
What a horrible person…!
"Sir," Naru said sharply. "Need I remind you that you were the cause of this?" Matsuyama's laughter stopped. "Don't forget that." Naru's tone was very sharp.
"Wait a minute, Naru," Monk said. "Sakauchi isn't even alive anymore. Can you even reverse a zuhzou onto a dead person?"
"Turning a zuhzou back on the deceased is impossible, but that's irrelevant since he isn't the one responsible for the zuhzou in the first place," Naru said. "When you reverse a zuhzou, it returns to whoever cast it. Although they weren't aware of the consequences, the students are responsible for starting the zuhzou."
"But… what will happen to them?" I asked.
Naru simply stared at us.
If the students cast the spell… and the zuhzou is returned to whoever started it… those foxfires will attack the students!
"You can't do it Naru!" I protested. "There's gotta be a better way!"
"So you'd rather us ignore Matsuyama's death?" Naru said.
I gasped. What? No! That's not-
Naru continued on. "Failure to realize the end result is no excuse for the students. Even if they are punished by the law, if Matsuyama dies they'll be accessories to murder. The curse will return to the students. This man who caused all this will repent his sins one way or another. That sounds like a fair share solution to me."
"Naru, no," I insisted softly.
"Mr. Shibuya, what will happen to us students once the zuhzou is returned back to us?" Yasu asked. He was facing the wall, supposedly thinking over his question before asking it.
"Since there is such a large number of people who cast it, the power should be divided evenly among everyone, weakening its affects," Naru said. "At least, that's what I hope will happen."
What do you mean, 'what I hope will happen'?!
"Naru!" I protested again.
"We came to you to resolve this manner," Yasu said. "If there's really no other way to finish this-"
"There isn't," Naru stated.
"-Then you have our permission to move forward," Yasu said, bowing his head to Naru.
"So Mr. Matsuyama gets off totally unharmed, but all of the students could get hurt or even killed?!" I yelled. "How come he's the only one that's safe? That's not fair at all!"
"Murder is never an option in our society, no matter how a person conducts themselves," Naru responded.
"But the possible death of hundreds is okay?!"
"I think it's reasonable for everyone to bear the responsibility of their actions."
"But, they…" I thought of Yasu. Yasu didn't mean a single bit of harm! It was just a game for everyone else! "They didn't know what they were doing!"
"Ignorance is hardly an excuse."
He's right.
I know that.
But I can't just bow my head and accept this!
"I hate you Naru, do you hear me?! You're a terrible person!" *3
Naru closed his eyes and turned his head. "Lin, let's get ready to move." He sounded agitated, but somehow, I felt that he wasn't mad specifically at me.
"Right," Lin said.
They both moved past me silently. The door slid shut, cutting me off from whatever they might have done next.
"Look Mai," Monk was the first to break the silence.
"I know," I said, feeling about as spent as I sounded. "I know Naru is right. Still, I can't always just do whatever he says." I felt my tears as they started to brim over my lashes. "And I could care less if he doesn't like me for it. But it's not right, it's just not right!"
"Our hands are tied, Mai. It's a tough pill to swallow, but there's nothing else we can do," Ayako said, her voice steady as she explained.
She knew.
Yasu knew.
Monk knew.
I knew.
We all knew. Naru was right. And there's not a thing we can do about it.
But that's not going to stop me from trying.
"I'm stopping him," I decided.
"What?" Ayako said.
"I have to," I said. "He's making a terrible mistake."
I started running out the door.
"Mai, wait, how are you going to do that!?" Ayako's voice echoed behind me, but I didn't answer.
"Mai!" Monk called, but I ignored him too as I ran out in the halls.
Maybe what Naru said about the students is right, but no one hated Matsuyama so much that they wanted to see him dead!
"It's reasonable for everyone to bear the responsibility of their actions."
How can he turn the zuhzou back on the students when he's fully aware of how painful it will be for them?! Is that his idea of justice?! Either way, there's got to be something else we can do to stop this curse!
I literally ran through the entire school—I may or may not have gotten lost once or twice—before ending up at the last place I could think of. The parking lot.
Oh no, Lin's car is gone. I thought they might have stayed here, but I guess they didn't…
Where'd they go?
BLIND
*I set down the receiver into the cradle. I was at a phone booth near the school.
Although I had thoroughly searched the nearby places, I didn't see Naru. I was a little concerned that the car was no longer in the car park; I thought they might have gone back to the office.
I called the office but nobody replied. Basically neither Taka nor I can receive calls in the office. I made several calls to Taka's home, and I finally found Taka who had returned home from the office. I remember the conversation rather well.
"How is it? Is the investigation progressing well? It's really incredible, there were reporters and all that gathered in front of the office. But I did as boss told me to and told them there was no comment." There was ignorance in Taka's innocent voice.
"Taka… That's not really important right now," I had sighed into the phone.
"What's up, Mai?" Taka said, uneasy.
"What about Naru? Did he not return to the office?"
"Uh, no, he didn't come back. Isn't he over on your side of the investigation? At the school, I mean."
"Not here. I've already searched. If Naru is not stopped…" I broke off. What should I do… What can I do?
"I understand. Boss is not there, right?" Taka said. Even though I hadn't explained anything, her voice was firm. "You want to look for boss, right? I will return to the office now to take a look. I will go now; I will leave the moment I hang up. When I get there, you call the office. I will spend the entire night tonight waiting in the office."
"Thank you…"
After that I once more I searched the places nearby. After counting the time I made another call to the office. Naru had not returned to the office. Taka also said it didn't look like they had been there while she was away.
If only I knew where Naru was staying in Japan. Maybe it was unlikely they'd be there, but it'd be something.
"Naru must be found."
There must be some other way. There must be.*4
BLIND
I ended up on a staircase somewhere in the school. It was dark here, I could tell. The hum of electricity was nowhere near this place. It'd be the last place any of them looked. Even if I was blind, I was usually cautious for my sighted friends, and made sure there were lights on, or that I had a flashlight. They would at least search lit places first, and if they came here, hopefully I'd hear their footsteps or hear the lights come on before they reached me.
Really, I just wanted to sulk for a little while by myself.
Why can't I find them…? They never went back to base, and I checked the school three times over. They're not at the office either. I even called them! This is so frustrating. While they're getting ready to hurt those kids, all I can do is just sit here.
The talismans.
Yasu.
Sakauchi.
Those bug things.
This case is so messed up.
Faintly, I heard a cry. A girl, it sounded like. *5
"-Samu…. Osamu!"
I could only faintly hear the girl. Just in case it was a person and not a trick, I started trying to follow it.
"Osamu! Big brother, please, are you there?" I heard the crying, and I knew that I was close. I wasn't too sure what room she was in yet, but I knew it couldn't be a ghost.
Why?
The girl was calling for Osamu. The only Osamu that I knew here would be Yasu.
This girl was also calling for her big brother, apparently. Yasu had previously said that he had a little sister.
Chances were, this girl was Yasu's little sister.
Final proof? I finally got to the door, and what do you know?
It's Yasu's classroom.
"Hey," I knocked on the door. "You locked in there?"
"Is someone there?" The girl cried out. "Please, get me out of here!"
I should probably go back to base and get help… But this girl sounds so desperate, and what if they aren't at base?
"Hold on," I said as I started pulling the door open, deciding that rescuing one girl couldn't be that hard. …Man… it was really stuck. I felt someone else trying to pull the door open, and I guessed that the girl was trying to help. "Come on, you stupid door!" I said. I started taking my frustration about Naru and this absolute gem of a situation out on the handle as I tried to slide it open.
The door started to move, and after a few seconds I opened it wide enough for a person and was able to hold it there long enough for a little girl to slip out before it slammed itself shut. She seemed to be middle-school aged, if her size and uniform were to be taken into account. Her hair was somewhat long and straight, though seemingly a bit unruly, and any bangs she might have had were put into a hair clip on the top of her head. The girl panted a little at the effort, and I'll admit to being a tiny bit out of breath myself.
Well, more than a tiny bit. I did pretty much all of the work trying to open that door and my arms felt like noodles.
The girl collected herself after a moment and smiled. "Thank you," she said.
"No-huff-problem-huff," I groaned. "What are-huff-you doing here?"
"My brother goes here. He hasn't come home just yet, and I was looking for him. Then I got stuck in there," she explained.
"Your brother?"
"Uh, you seem out of breath."
I only nodded in response. "Stupid door…" I grumbled. She waited a moment for me to compose myself. I caught my breath again, and stood up straight. "So, your brother, right?"
"Oh, yeah," she said. "Osamu Yasuhara, class president, good at school but bad at chess and most athletics?"
"I don't know about the chess and athletics part, but I do know Yasu," I smiled. He's probably still at base. "Go down the hall, take a right, up that staircase, go up the hallway up there, take a right, and he should be the third door on the left. Got that?"
"Okay, but, wait, where are you going?" she asked.
I couldn't say I was going to go back to sulking, so I decided that 'investigating' sounded better. "I'm going to check out this room. Stay out here, okay?"
"You sure? What if you get stuck like I did?"
"Don't worry, I have warding magic," I said. "And you remember the instructions to the room I gave you, right?" The girl nodded, and I turned my attention to the room.
The door that had oh so refused to unlock before easily moved when I put my hand on the handle. The room was blank, and kinda… wet. Then the floor gurgled.
I can deal with wet floors, but I cannot and will not deal with floors that gurgle. Before I could turn and leave, though, the door slammed shut in my face. The force actually made me fall on the ground that's still gurgling, by the way.
"Miss!" the girl called.
"Listen to me," I said. "Go to the place I mentioned. Even if your brother's not there, tell whoever is there that I need help!"
"Okay, wait, what's your name?"
"Mai."
"Got it!"
I could hear the girl's footsteps as she ran, and took a deep breath before observing the room I was in. The floor felt like a sponge soaked in something, and as I stretched my senses out, I realized the entire room was like that. The roof was even dripping, it was so saturated. Hesitant to know what exactly I was currently sitting in, I carefully lifted a hand off the floor, and tried sensing what it was.
Only one thing could make me have this reaction. Like a cold wave or shiver going over my brain, raking against it uncaringly.
Blood.
All of this stuff was blood.
… This is bad. I get the feeling that this is not quite the same as when the girl was stuck in here.
She was probably just locked in.
I got to have a literal blood bath.
That is not a good sign.
I steadied myself onto my feet and tried to pull open the door only to realize I couldn't even find the door.
It was just me and a blood-soaked room. Which smelled really bad, by the way.
Unfortunately for me, that didn't last nearly as long as I liked. White, skeleton-like things pulled themselves out, and I did not like the look of their finger/claws.
I was empty handed. What I knew was only some half-assed exorcism techniques. With that I couldn't possibly achieve anything. *6
… But it's not like I really had a choice here.
I stood myself up and started walking to the center of the room, regrettably closer to the weird monsters in front of me.
I don't know if my weak magic skills will have any effect, but here goes.
My hands folded up, and I started my chant. "Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan. Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan. Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan. Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan. Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan. Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan…."
Ayako's chant was next, right?
Across. "Rin."
Down. "Pyou."
Across. "Tou."
Down. "Sha."
Across. "Kai."
Down. "Jin."
Across. "Retsu."
Down. "Zai."
Across. "Zen."
"Be gone!" I yelled, the monster that was in front of me disappearing back into the blood with a loud splash.
The other two monsters didn't seem to care much. If I hadn't been in a room of blood and they didn't have claws for fingers, I would have found their eyes humorous. In this instance, though, it simply reminded me that they'd see what I was doing no matter what.
Where is that girl? Shouldn't she have gotten help by now?
The blood gurgled again, and the skeleton thing that I had just knocked down came back up again, not trace of blood or of my attack on him.
I did the only thing I could.
I started chanting like no tomorrow, because if I didn't, that might actually be a true statement for me.
"Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan. Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan. Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan, kan. Namanku, sanmanda, bazaradan-," I stopped when I hit the wall, or door, or whatever it was behind me. I hadn't even noticed that I was moving backwards, but I had noticed that the monsters were slowly but surely making their way over to me.
They had also multiplied.
Where is that girl?!
"Get away from me!" I yelled. "Stay back!"
One skelton hand-claw had just about wrapped around my ankle, when two hands seem to shoot out of the wall behind me and pull me backwards.
This is it.
I'm done for.
"On, kirikiri, bazaar!"
… That wasn't me.
That was… Monk?
So that was his hands…. That grabbed me.
A wet nose nuzzled my hand, and I almost screamed before I recognized the white fox beside me. Balgair?
Just as quickly, he was gone.
"Bashiri, hora, manda, manda, on, hata!" Monk finished his chant, and stuck his golden ritual tool thing into the door way. I could see some kind of barrier, faintly, and the creatures splat against it uselessly.
It was at that time that, somehow, someway, I was able to see Monk.
Brown-blond hair, brown eyes, tall figure… it was nearly unbelievable. So much so that I almost didn't respond when he yelled, "Mai, run!" and grabbed my hand. We ran until we were completely out of the building, and even past it.
Eventually, we were in the parking lot. Monk, Masako, Ayako, John, and even freaking Yasu was there. *7
And I had a bad feeling that Monk was about to misinterpret what had just happened.
Man, was I right.
"Ugh, you idiot!" Monk said, standing in front of me. "Did you really think you had a chance against them?! You just learned magic the other day!"
"I think you're misinterpreting this," I said in a small voice as Ayako lightly put her hand on my shoulder.
"Oh yeah? If I hadn't been there to save you, you could've died. Do you know how lucky you are?!"
"I-"
I realized what he said was true. Those things nearly had me. They would have killed me.
I started crying.
"You're okay now," Ayako said, wrapping her arms around me as Masako put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm glad he made it in time."
Yasu and John came over too. "It's gonna be okay, Mai," John said, peeking over Ayako's shoulder at me while Masako kneeled down next to me. "You're with your friends, you're safe now."
"Mai!" a shrill voice interrupted our little pity-party. I turned to find the girl from earlier rushing over to us.
"Akemi?" Yasu asked as she flew past him to me.
"I'm sorry Mai," she quickly rambled, "I tried to find the room but I got lost and then I saw all these people out here and that man yelled at you and I'm sorry!"
"Uh…. Calm…. Calm down?" I said to the crying girl, trying to cover my own sniffles.
"Who are you?" John asked, and Yasu took liberty to answer for the distressed girl.
"She's my sister, Akemi. The one in middle school that I told you about?" Yasu said. "Though I don't know why she's here…"
"Dummy!" she yelled at him. "You were supposed to be home an hour ago, and our curfew is almost up! I came to get you!"
"Oh, uh…" Yasu had no response to this. So Masako took over.
"You were trying to find Yasuhara?" she asked.
"Yeah," replied the newly-dubbed Akemi. "But he wasn't in his classroom. I couldn't get out, though, and that's when I started calling for help. That's when Mai came over."
"Mai did?" Ayako asked.
Akemi nodded. "She did. But then she got pulled in. She told me to go find the room she thought Yasu was in, and even if he wasn't in there, to notify anyone that was. But no one was there, so I thought I had the wrong room, and went through all the rooms on that floor. But I couldn't find anyone."
"Really?" John said. "I guess she just missed us all going out to try and find Mai and Monk."
"Monk?" I asked.
"He went out to search for you first, but he couldn't find you," Ayako said.
"So wait, let me get this straight," Monk said. "If Yasu wasn't late going home, then Akemi wouldn't have come here, and if Mai hadn't happened to be nearby, then I wouldn't have to save Mai from a blood-soaked nightmare of a room?"
"What do you mean, nightmare?" Akemi said. "That room was totally normal when I went in. The door just wouldn't open."
"Really?" Ayako said. "No weird smells or anything…?"
"Nope."
"That's weird," I said.
"I'm going up to base, to check for anything," Masako said, and we didn't protest as she quickly left. She probably wanted to check what the spirits were up to now. As long as she stayed to the halls and hurried up to base, she'd be fine, even if she passed by the room I was in, as long as she didn't actually enter. She actually knew some protective magic, unlike me.
"Well, anyway, guys," Yasu said after Masako left, pulling himself and his sister up. "We actually should probably go home. I'll… see you in the morning."
Right, Yasu was probably still thinking about the reversal of the curse.
The pair were out of my sense-range when I realized something. "Monk," I said. "If Akemi didn't lead you to me, how did you find me?"
"Huh?" Monk said. "Oh, well, it was actually a little weird. A fox ran by. I thought it might be one of the spirits stuck here, and decided that I might just be able to do something about it. When I followed it, though, all I could hear was you chanting and then screaming at the spirits to get away from you."
"A fox?" Ayako said.
"A white fox," Monk confirmed. "Say, Mai, did you see it?"
I blinked.
Truth or lie.
Uh….
If I'm honest, they might want more info, but if I lie, and they realize that, they might think I'm trying to hide something. I totally am, but still. I'd rather not say that my spirit guide's spirit guide came to my rescue. That is way too many questions.
Maybe if I only give them a little info…?
Well then. Let's try honesty.
"Yeah, I did," I said.
"That took a while to respond to," Ayako said.
"Well, it was weird! I was seeing skeleton things and a fox and I saw Monk, so," I said.
"Wait, you saw me?" Monk said.
"What?" I said. "Oh, yeah, I did. You have brown hair and eyes." I needed a distraction to change the topic. "Nice hippy pony-tail, by the way."
"Not you too," Monk groaned. We made it back to base and I was no longer being questioned, and Masako was completely unharmed as she reported that the spirits had settled down again.
Unfortunately, Naru and Lin never returned that night. Even if they had, we wouldn't have known until morning
It was a unanimous decision that I needed a shower.
*Filing into Monk's car, we went to Ayako's apartment.
When we arrived in the room which had plants everywhere and, according to Monk, 'Green as an ancient forest', I was brought to the bathroom. I could feel the blood that was on me. I imagined that anyone that looked at me probably would run away in fright. Or laughed. I might have just as well looked like a tomato for all I knew.
I set the hot water to shower from above my head, giving myself a thorough wash. The bathroom, too, was filled with numerous unnamed bonsais. Ayako really appreciates plants. I can't help feeling it's interesting that the pair aren't quite complementary.
When I walked out of the bathroom after putting on clothes handed to me by Ayako (surprisingly, they fit well), she was cleaning a stain I hadn't noticed on Masako's kimono. If I had to guess, it probably occurred when Masako held my shoulder.
"You're calm and not-blood-soaked now?" Ayako said
"Yeah… Sorry," I said sheepishly.
Ayako handed the soiled cloth to John and went into the kitchen to heat me some milk. With a little granulated sugar, it had a mild alcoholic smell. Ayako, who handed the cup to me and Monk, who was smoking (a thing he apparently did after 'Rescuing well-meaning but particularly reckless idiots), were both covered in blood.
Ayako took a towel, covered my head and helped me dry my hair. "You've taken years off my life," she said as she rubbed a little more roughly than necessary.
"Sorry," I said.
"Really... You're really an impatient and reckless person," Monk scolded. "You could've come gotten us when you figured out the girl was stuck."
That… probably would have been best…
"If there's something that none of us can do, you probably can't do it either," Masako added in.
Yes…
"I understand your feelings on this, but that is already an undeniable fact," John used a gentle voice to speak.
Even John was reprimanding me a tiny bit.
Ayako dried my hair forcefully; the milk in the cup swished. "All's well ends well, I suppose. And it's not like you had a choice after you got stuck in there," Ayako mused.
Suddenly the Monk stood up. "Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom for a moment. I'd rather not be blood-soaked anymore, if that's alright."
"That's fine, but don't mess up my place."
"If you have a change of clothes for me I'd be very pleased."
"I don't have clothing suitable for men here. How about a towel to wrap around?"
"Hey hey." Monk waved smugly. He seemed like he had been drenched in blood like me. He started towards the bathroom.
"Monk," I called after him and his blood-soaked self, and he paused. "Thank you… and sorry."
Monk barked a laugh. Ayako immediately said, "What are you laughing at so simple mindedly. You are laughing like Jason."
"Pfft," John burst out laughing. Indeed, he looked like a serial killer heading off to wash the blood splattered on his own body.
"Hey, Mai you can't laugh too," one of them complained-probably Monk. I was laughing too hard to figure out or remember who it was. I tried to somber up by taking a sip. It didn't work well, but none of us were holding back on laughing very well.
After that, when the Monk had entered the bathroom, we could not control ourselves anymore and laughed out loud. I think I heard Monk grumble from the other side of the wall.
We kept talking about other irrelevant matters; just like that I didn't know what time I fell asleep.
The next morning Ayako woke me up. "Mai, let's go." To not freak her out, and because it was more natural, I opened my eyes like I was 'peaking' at her.
"The school?" I asked.
Ayako, who had already dressed, nodded. Monk and John and Masako – everyone had already prepared to leave.
Did anyone get any sleep last night?
"You've also decided to see this to the end, right?" Ayako said, flinching slightly as she remembered her choice of words. "I think there isn't much time left before the Kodoku is completed. If this is the case Naru will probably act today."
"Yes..." I dragged my heavy body up.
Naru wanted to reflect the curse, returning it to the students who had activated it… No matter what, even if I can't find him and stop him, I will go through with this until the end.*8
BLIND
Day 6
"It's awfully quiet, huh?" Ayako said. Us three girls, as in Ayako, Masako, and myself, stood out in the parking lot. We were looking for any sign of Naru or Lin, or for any students on campus.
"The only thing I'm sensing right now is a big void," Masako said. "It feels as if this place is deserted."
"It seems like classes should've started already," I mentioned. Really, a school shouldn't be this empty on a weekday at this time. It was weird.
"Hey," Monk shouted from a little while away. He and John were helping us look, but I guess they caught up to us without me realizing it. "Come and check out the gymnasium!"
We walked over to where both John and Monk were standing next to the school building. John was looking at, or probably through, the glass panes on the building. The panes were probably windows, and probably looking into the gym, if I had to guess.
"Looks like they're having a school assembly. I guess that means the zuhzou hasn't been reversed," Monk said.
I leaned against the window. I couldn't identify who's voice it was, but a male was speaking to the students. "Take… and… your name… and… proceed… be cautious of…"
"Let's head back to base," Monk said, his hand on my shoulder. I nodded in agreement and headed up.
As we passed by the parking lot, though, I noticed something.
Lin's car is back!
So then they both must be here, right?
However, even as we stepped into base, I couldn't find them. They simply weren't there. *9
"I know they're here," I said quietly to myself.
"What was that?" John asked.
"Naru and Lin… they're here. The car's outside… So why aren't they here?" I said.
"Maybe they don't want to be disturbed?" Monk said. "They going to reverse the zuhzou, so they're probably doing tha-" I ran. "Dammit!"
I started searching through the rooms again, vaguely hearing Monk's feet pound against the floor behind me.
It was on one of the miscellaneous staircases that he caught me.
"Why isn't anyone stopping him?!" I demanded.
"Mai!" Monk growled out. It was unsaid, but he clearly wanted me to just drop it already.
"But Monk!" I protested. "We can't let him do this!"
Monk's big hands held my face carefully, forcing me to look at him. "Have some faith in Naru," he said. I felt my eyes water, but held it back. "Think about it. Has he ever let us down before?"
"But I…" I weakly said.
"Has he?"
"… No…" Despite Monk's hands, I still managed to duck my head down low, and I concentrated on my shoes…. More scuffmarks than usual. Probably from all of that running.
"Just believe in him. Everything will be fine," Monk said, and I brought my head up to face him, hands weakly clinging to his wrists.
"But Monk…"
"Yasu's in the gymnasium with all of the other students. Don't you know that I'm worried about him too?" Monk said, and for a moment, I remembered that I had seen him last night. Actually, genuinely, sincerely seen him. I was used to seeing ghosts by this point, and the blobs—which I haven't seen since Naru and Lin left. But an actual person, one I worked with? Never.
His eyes must be looking at me comfortingly. He was worried. Did I know that? …."Yeah," I squeaked out as I started to cry, my hands moving onto Monk's.
"It's alright," Monk said, letting me cry.
It's good to know that everyone else is as worried as I am. I bet Naru is too.
Monk smiled lightly at me. Even though he was worried, he wasn't running around attempting to find Naru and Lin and stop them.
Because he had faith.
It's not like I didn't have faith. I just couldn't help it. Those students don't deserve whatever may be coming, and while I don't really with Matsuyama dead, he did deserve some sort of torment from all of this…
But this is Naru.
…I was doubting him, yes, but in the end, wasn't Naru worried too?
He had to be.
As stoic as he was, he was still a human.
Even if he did take in unusually high amounts of tea.
BLIND
Time ticked on. Monk and I sat on that staircase, waiting. The hallway above me is one of the few that I hadn't checked, but it was nothing but conference rooms and storage closets. A good few of them didn't have lighting in them, as well as no windows. It was unlikely they'd be there at all.
No, knowing them, they might just have commandeered base and left everyone else to fend for themselves.
… That clock is weirdly loud. I started counting the ticks.
I was on count twelve when I heard a door slide open loudly. Monk was being quiet for once, and despite the passing time, the students hadn't headed for classes yet, so the door was easy to hear.
I followed the sound, Monk silently following me. We went down the stairs and turned the corner.
Monk was probably right, that they were reversing the hex. Based on the grimness that even I noticed settling on the other's faces, I guessed that either they took over base and kicked them out, or that they had been informed of what happened before they found me.
"… Is it over?" I asked.
"Yes," Naru said.
"So, what happened?" I asked.
Naru didn't answer.
Where are the students…?
Why aren't there any students…?
Are they still in the gymnasium?
When exactly did they reverse the hex? Is that why they aren't here? Because they're injured…?
Or are they….
I started running down to where the gymnasium was.
"Mai," Monk shouted as he ran after me. "Wait!" He was probably tired of chasing me.
I was tired of running.
But I had to check.
So neither of us gets to win that one.
I arrived at the gym doors.
Please be okay.
The doors slide open without any hesitance.
…What is all of this…?
Monk panted from behind me. John had caught up too. "What is it?" Monk said. Then, after some hesitation and the arrival of Masako (AKA doesn't-know-I'm-blind….yet), "What are you looking at?"
I ignored him and the last statement as he came up behind me, and looked in.
… Dolls.
Wooden dolls everywhere.
The entire gymnasium was filled with wooden dolls. Not a single person was in there.
"Whoa," Monk said, leaning on the door for support.
"Are those… hitogata?" I said as I knelt down and picked one up. "But what happened to all the students that you saw in here?"
Part of the doll I held splintered off after that, surprising me mildly… Naru leaning down close and picking up the splintered piece surprised me more.
Naru…
He snuck up while I was too focused on the doll to send my senses around me.
"Hey Monk," Naru said.
"What's up?" Monk asked.
"I want you and John to check all the hitogata," he ordered. "Miss Hara, Miss Matsuzaki and… Mai..."
"Yeah?" I responded.
"Split up and check all the names on any unbroken hitogata."
I started toning Naru's voice out as I stretched my senses to take the whole room in. There were easily hundreds of the dolls. Hundreds. They'd have to make around six hundred dolls to cover the whole of the student body. Six-freaking-hundred.
Wow. So they actually made a hitogata for every student.
Was this what they were doing all last night…?
Regardless of the shock, we got to work on the orders that Naru gave us.
For me, that meant lots and lots of phone calls. We decided against Masako after we realized that the students would probably recognize her voice from television, and Ayako simply didn't have the patience to do it. Plus, the parents always thought the kid was in trouble when greeted by an adult voice, but I could just say I'm a friend calling from school. Instead, we made a sort of… system.
Masako told Ayako whose name was on the doll.
Ayako looked up the phone number and told me while I dialed it in.
I do the actual calling.
"Just to be clear you've never messed around with Orikiri-Sama, right?" I said into the phone. "Okay! Thanks for your help!" I said after I got a response. I set the phone down before addressing Ayako and Masako. "We're good guys. Nothing happened to her."
"Wow," Ayako sighed in disbelief.
"Wonderful," Masako said.
I held one particularly precious hitogata. One with a damaged leg. A certain Osamu Yasuhara's hitogata.
There were enough hitogata to cover all of the students… the effect of the zuhzou reversal, which should have gone to them, were completely absorbed by the hitogata.
Once it was finished, the hitogata were broken, and any that were unharmed represented the students who never took part in Orikiri-Sama.
This had been Naru's plan from the beginning. He never wanted to harm anyone…
And speaking of Naru…. I should probably apologize.
Actually, I need to apologize. I argued against him even though I knew it was right, ran around trying to find him so I could stop him, and I even said I hated him. I even got attacked while trying to find him. I thought of him as a murderer for a little while there.
Maybe he cared what I thought, said, and did. Maybe he didn't. But he's human too. And this human owes him an apology.
BLIND
Naru is incredibly evasive if he wants to be. Somehow, though, I managed to find him right outside the school, in a field, of all places.
I took a moment for myself before speaking up. "Naru," I addressed him, and he looked over his shoulder before turning towards me.
"How did we do?" Naru asked.
"They're all safe. They said they'd never done Orikiri-Sama," I reported.
"That's great news," Naru said. He seemed relieved, if you asked me.
A small silent moment stretched between us. "Look, if you were planning to make hitogata for everyone, wouldn't it have been easier to just make one for Matsuyama?" I asked.
"Which sounds like better odds to you- four against one, or four against six hundred?" Naru said.
I huffed. "Geez! You dummy, we could have avoided all this drama if you had just told me that from the beginning!" I cried over this three different times, you jerk!
"Transferring a curse to a hitogata is extremely difficult. Even Lin wasn't sure everyone would be safe," Naru said.
"I just wish I had known," I muttered.
I said I hated him. I thought of him like a murderer. I probably would have called him that, if given the chance. I argued with him, ran around the school away from the others, and I nearly got myself killed because I couldn't just wait for someone at base to help me.
And Naru, he was going to let me do all this, just in case he was wrong? He wanted me to think this incase he really did become like that? Even if I didn't say it, he could probably tell what I was thinking…
But I just can't accept thinking like that for someone who meant no harm.
…This apology isn't just for Naru. It's for me as well. I still hate him a little. Even if he just said to believe in him, that'd be fine. But I can't really hate him all that much, either. It's frustrating.
It was quiet for a moment.
"I'm sorry." That… wasn't me.
Naru say WHAT now?
"I know I said some very inconsiderate things to you. You get so caught up in the well-fare of others," Naru said, unhesitant. "It must've been awful for you. And for that, I apologize."
I lowered my head. Naru walked past me, towards the building. He was going to give me my space.
Oh no, Naru, you do NOT get to sashay away right now!
"Not fair!" I shouted to get his attention. It worked. Heck, he was a little surprised, even. I turned on my heel to face him. "Uhg! I was just about to apologize myself but no! Naru had to do it before me! Maybe it's just me but you always seem to take the best moments for yourself!"
There. I said my piece.
… Naru's just looking at me.
Did I just start another argument…? Oh man, I totally started another argument, didn't I?
Then, Naru did the unexpected. He reached a hand up, tapped my forehead, and then smiled.
He's… smiling at me?!
He's smiling at ME?
Wait, Naru can freaking SMILE?
I blushed slightly. Or heavily. I'm not sure. Naru hardly smiles. Actually, I don't think he's ever done so since I've known him. And yet, here he is, smiling, at me, his clumsy assistant, of all people.
With whom he had just apologized. He doesn't really do that either.
All in all, either he was possessed or it was a blush-worthy event. The school was cleansed so I had no choice but to go with the latter.
Quickly as he had, though, he turned away back to the building. I could already tell the smile was gone.
Maybe he'd done it to shut me up.
Maybe he had some other reason.
Maybe I just looked like a puppy trying to argue with a big dog and smiling was the way he was laughing.
Maybe I somehow amused him.
But somehow, it felt… a little special.
And I received it.
Somehow, it made something inside me flutter, and I had to wonder that it just might be my heart.
That brought up a question I had been wondering for a while as is.
Am I falling for Naru…?
BLIND
"I wanted to thank you for all you've done," Yasu said as we finished packing up the van. "And since Sakauchi's curse is what started this whole mess, I was thinking of holding a memorial service for him. To keep any possibility of future problems in check."
"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Monk said from beside me. The three of us all stood in front of the school, waiting for some last minute things to get tied up.
"It makes me wonder," I thought out loud. "Is Sakauchi disappointed that the curse never happened? Or is he relieved?"
"How do you think he feels?" Monk asked.
"Well to be honest, I'm really not sure," I answered truthfully. "I'd like to think he's happy that no one was hurt. Do you know what I mean?"
The other two silently seemed to agree, smiling softly at the thought.
"By the way," Monk said suddenly. "Yasu. Tell me the truth, you were scared back there, weren't ya?"
"Oh, you mean when Naru and Lin said they'd be reversing the zuhzou back on us?" Yasu asked.
"That's right," Monk confirmed.
"Well, you see," Yasu said, "I had faith."
"In what?" Monk asked.
Yasu adjusted his glasses. "In myself." Both Monk and I were reminded a little too much of our boss. "I had never done anything that was so bad that would warrant me dying at such a young age, so I was confident that out of everyone at least I would come out of it unscathed."
"You'll live a long life with that attitude," Monk grumbled.
"That's what I plan on!" Yasu said cheerily.
We all started laughing.
What a great way to end a case.
BLIND
Because I love you guys so much, here's the Naru-Mai scene at the end from Naru's prospective. Thank me later. Or not, since I took too damn long.
NARU'S POV
I stood there, looking over the fields outside of Rokuryo High School.
Had Lin and I forgotten anyway?
Was everyone okay?
I really hope it worked. It seemed to, but still. I had to worry about things like this.
"Naru," I heard from behind me. I glanced over my shoulder before turning to face my youngest assistant.
"How did we do?" I asked.
"They're all safe. They said they'd never done Orikiri-Sama," she reported, a smile to her tone.
"That's great news," I said, highly relieved that there were no casualties.
There was a small pause before Mai spoke next. "Look, if you were planning to make hitogata for everyone, wouldn't it have been easier to just make one for Matsuyama?"
If only it were that easy. "Which sounds like better odds to you- four against one, or four against six hundred?"
Mai pouted and huffed in response. "Geez! You dummy, we could have avoided all this drama if you had just told me that from the beginning!"
"Transferring a curse to a hitogata is extremely difficult. Even Lin wasn't sure everyone would be safe," I replied.
If I failed… Then Mai had every right to hate me.
"I just wish I had known," she muttered. She was probably thinking about our argument, her saying she hated me and her running around the school trying to find and stop me. Really, I probably would have let her call me a murderer if she had wanted to.
Still, she got hurt because she was running around and definitely not at base in a school that was more haunted than it had any right to be. She was worried, and she must've felt horrible thinking that there was nothing she could do to stop the curse.
Monk told me that she cried a few times. I… wasn't sure what to do with that information. So I came out here, only for the subject of my runaway to come to me personally.
…It was quiet for a moment.
"I'm sorry," I said.
Mai looked very surprised.
I continued on. "I know I said some very inconsiderate things to you. You get so caught up in the well-fare of others. It must've been awful for you. And for that, I apologize."
Mai lowered her head in thought, and I walked past her towards the building. Give her time and give her space.
Mai had other plans, however. "Not fair!" she shouted. She then turned on my heel to face me. "Uhg! I was just about to apologize myself but no! Naru had to do it before me! Maybe it's just me but you always seem to take the best moments for yourself!"
I was a little shocked. Not terribly so. For some reason, I felt weird this entire case. Looking at her, face flushed from yelling, thinking about how this is predictable yet endearing.
Why does she make me feel this way?
Then it clicked.
Bloody hell, I like Mai.
And even though this feeling was unexpected, and probably unrequited, it wasn't entirely unwelcome. Raising a hand, I tapped her forehead. Mine.
I even felt myself smile at her.
Her familiarity.
Her face—a lovely shade of red, at this point.
Her individuality, however frustrating it gets when she needs to just depend on people every once in a while.
Every infuriating but endearing thing about her.
I didn't understand it, and I didn't really need to. I liked her, and I can figure that out later.
Even as I turned around to go back inside like I originally intended, I felt my features go back to a rather emotionless face.
I'm in Japan for one reason. Whether I like Mai or not, I need to find my brother first.
I knew my brother well, and I knew he'd want me to pursue Mai. But I was not going to go chasing after her until everything else is done.
Once I find Gene and go home for a while, though…
I am slowly getting rather fond of this country, perhaps I could come back.
And if that didn't work…
Well, I could always say that Martin has some tests for her, right?
BLIND
Yeah yeah, my editing made the apology scene half-assed. Sorry, not sorry. The first argument was bad enough anyway. I was not going to do the second one. So you're just gonna have to assume they both were pretty upset and maybe shaken by the first argument, okay?
*1 So, I think I put Hiroharu instead of Hideharu earlier. But it's definitely Hideharu. Oops.
*2 Thank the heavens that the manga put in whatever the heck he said, because I just had this blank stare as Lin said it. I think I put in Tosai Oison or something with a big note that said "FIGURE OUT LATER" next to it.
*3 I'd like to say I was kidding, but I hate this part, particularly this line, so much that I spent literally a month on the line right before it. I mean, I was doing exams and stuff then, so I just would say 'I need to study' and avoid writing that for a long, long time. And then, another five minutes afterwards were spent deliberating on whether or not I should delete it and change that scene. In fact, the novels didn't have her shout that at him. Don't why that changed, but I wish it hadn't.
*4 From the novel, edited by yours truly.
*5 We all have moments where we want to hit Mai. This is one of them. I mean, did she really, truly think it would work? Even if she was (no pun intended) blind with worry or whatever. Anyway, as much as it does make sense with her character to do this, I hated this scene, so I edited it. Also, I wanted to introduce you to someone who you'll probably never meet again after this chapter. Mai herself, at least in the manga, admits that she pretty much knew that she wouldn't be able to do anything anyway, so… Yeah.
*6 Directly from the novel.
*7 Yasu was not originally in this scene.
*8 Another from-the-novels-and-edited-by-me moment.
*9 And the final scene I didn't like. I get that it's a super-important scene. I do. But I literally just couldn't. It makes her apology seem weak, yes, but I really just couldn't at that point. Three seconds of hate in the 'I hate you' scene, okay, I can suck it up. Three minutes…? Nu-uh. Not happening.
Okay, so let me clear this up for you guys. A couple of people have asked me, and I'm not sure what I've said about it before, but I'll clarify now. I don't mind people using the "Mai is Blind" thing because there is more to this story than that. In fact, I'd love it if you'd tell me about it so I can check it out (since I haven't been on FanFiction for a while, being busy and all, I'm behind on what's new and popular). I only mind if you take the chapters I've written and edit those, and even then I don't really care as long as you credit the main structure to myself and inform me about it. If you want a script of sorts of the Ghost Hunt episodes but are completely unable to make them yourself, I'll try and give you one if you ask—my chapters aren't the best representation of them since I also mix in the manga, the novels (if translated), and my own storyline. And you know what? If you ever just want to throw some story ideas at my face because you're nervous about how'd they go, go ahead and PM me or something. I'll try my best to help you out, if I can. I love finding more people being excited about writing and improving and such. Or if you just wanna talk. I'm not the fastest replier, but I'll definitely read the messages and try to respond.
Seriously guys, while I was in geometry class I invented a written language, and when I started recovering from surgery, a spoken one started to develop. Bother me so I'm a bit less of a total geek, okay?
Fun Fact about Blind- When I first wrote it, the whole thing was a one-shot that ended after the first case and wasn't very detailed at all. I just went with what I remembered of the first few episodes (which wasn't much) and didn't bother with actually re-watching it. It also ended with Lin being the only one to figure out Mai's blindness as they packed up, to which she replied, "About time one of you figured it out. Now, would you lot tell me what you look like already?" It was also written on an iPod touch, in the notes section. So added to the fact that the writing was somewhat bad (ha, somewhat is putting it lightly, I assure you), it was also written partially in text speech and had autocorrects and typos everywhere. Never did I think it would turn into this. Not that I mind, I love you guys so much! *throws cookies at the computer screen* *that's totally how mailing and emailing works, Scott*
Oh, and I didn't respond to most of the reviews and PMs mostly because I was too sick or busy to write. Plus, most of them were about the whole entire "Madoka vs Yasu psychic powers" thing. The draw is about 50-50, just so you know.
If you guys have the chance, look up 'Out of Sight' on YouTube. It's an animated short film that I think everyone should see. It's really quite adorable.
ATTENTION IMPORTANT
SO, most of you know the Ice Bucket Challenge, right? I mean, you have to be on the internet to read this, so I'm guessing so. Now, I'm not challenging you or anything like that, I'm asking that you don't forget the actual reasons behind the challenge. In the end, you really should donate or ask someone who can donate. Even better, you can do as my sister did. She not only donated for ALS, she also donated to a charity that brings water to places without. I just wanted to share that, really.
(Before you ask, yes, I got challenged, yes I got wet, yes I challenged people with the ability to donate, no I'm not telling you where you can find the video, since I wasn't in the official video. I got challenged as a group, but my spot was replaced by someone else, so there. … I probably wouldn't tell you anyway. Not because I don't like you, but because I really try to keep my anonymity. It's part of the deal I have with my family to keep me on here and updating (yeah, define 'updating', Sabastian-waited-like-nine-months-to-update-Scott).)
Well, that's all, folks!