**********Case 2: Souls Like Fireflies Part 2
A/N: I love this case soo much. It just gives me happy vibes. Welcome, Chiaki-kun, the office fish. No triggers I recognize in this chapter. Also, no stinger because Everything would be telling right now, sorry. The next chapter is so good, I may do something fun. Usually I update once a week, I'm updating a little early this week because half my coworkers have Omicron and I'm not sure how busy I'll be. I hadn't planned on the next update coming until the Wednesday after next. But I'm excited to post it, so I'll either post the Wednesday after next, or when this story gets 5 more reviews. It's currently at 16, so that would be 25. For readers of both versions of this story, I'd love to hear if I'm keeping the things you loved the most while providing more of what you wanted last time. Lastly, if I have any cultural errors you notice, feel free to let me know, preferably in a message. I'm not afraid to make corrections, but it is a little disheartening to have them in my reviews. It's also confusing to later readers if I correct the errors. I did quite a bit of research for this case, but ultimately, I live in the US, so I am at the mercy of said research.
As always, not my sandbox just my sandcastle.
"I am out with lanterns, looking for myself"- Emily Dickinson
Mai stared at her ceiling, unable to sleep. The memory of Ren's confession dueled with memories of the explosion, and no matter how she tried, she couldn't seem to separate the two.
She and Ren hadn't really had a chance to talk after. Shiori had been upset and wanted to leave right away. Her place was close to Mai's, and Mai hadn't wanted her to go home alone, so she'd hurried after her, promising to call Ren later.
Mai had never been confessed to before. At least, not like that. She'd had dates, the casual kind where they ended up having coffee or a meal. Sometimes it turned into more, sometimes it hadn't, but none of it had lasted. And it had never been so direct like that before, just her and the guy, face to face with feelings on the line.
Well, she had been in that situation before, of course. And it had ended up in flames that time as well.
Talk about bad omens.
She turned over restlessly, punching her pillow. Sure, now she couldn't sleep. What did she want to do?
Mai trailed her fingers along the concrete wall of the bridge, staring over the water at the glimmering lights that danced softly above it.
Around her, the empty stalls waited, dark but somehow hopeful. It felt like peaceful anticipation, a complete opposite of the chaos from earlier.
She turned her head at the sounds of footsteps. Gene stood at the end of the bridge smiling softly.
"The fireflies are beautiful. But I'm glad you're here. This place would be a little eerie by myself. I've never seen a festival without any people." Mai walked towards him.
They walked down the promenade in companionable silence, a contrast to the bustle from earlier. The lanterns strung across the walkway burned low, the majority of the light came from the full moon overhead.
Mai looked around curiously. From what she could tell, nothing had changed since earlier in the evening.
"When are we?" She asked, hushing her voice instinctively. It seemed wrong to speak loudly here for some reason.
"The date is the same. You're traveling, but not through time."
She nodded. She presumed he meant she was astral projecting then.
But why? Was it something Gene wanted her to see, or was it because she had subconsciously wanted to return?
Either was a possibility, she had learned. Her power was flexible.
She glanced at the quiet boy beside her. She couldn't help contrasting his appearance with that of Naru. While Gene was still a carbon copy of how he had looked at seventeen, Naru was no longer his mirror image.
Suddenly, she was jolted out of her musing when Gene stopped. Shooting her a meaningful look, he pointed towards the edge of the pond. There, under a street light, a girl in a purple yukata sat, kicking her geta in the dirt in a show of impatience.
She was waiting for someone, Mai realized. She recognized the actions, the posture. Now that she had a moment to study the girl in clearer light, she frowned. The girl did look to be about middle school age. But her yukata was too short. Nothing dramatic, but short enough that Mai guessed it was an older one she had begun to outgrow.
"She's a spirit?" Mai looked at Gene in dismay, and he nodded, a grim look coming over his face for a second.
"She's been here too long. She's becoming impatient. It's making her dangerous." He said simply.
"She started that fire earlier tonight." Mai whispered. She looked around. The three of them were the only ones in sight. So, that meant Mai was probably tuning into the spirit's personal plain right now.
This was the spirit's world.
"She's all alone." Mai murmured.
Maybe she could talk to her? Some spirits could be purified just by telling their story to someone willing to listen…
She took a step forward. Her footsteps echoed in the quiet, and the girl's head shot up.
"Dad?" She said, coming to her feet excitedly.
"Are you looking for your dad?" Mai asked, hands held out placatingly.
"Who are you? You're not my dad." The girl bit off, bitterness tingeing the words. Around her, the lanterns began to dance in a wind Mai could feel with her mind, but not with her skin.
"Just go away." The girl said, throwing her hand up towards Mai. Mai wasn't sure what the girl intended, but Gene had stepped smartly in front of her.
"Wake up". He said.
Mai blinked up at the sunlight streaming through her windows, sighing.
So much for summer vacation.
Mai weaved through the crowd, making her way towards the edge of the pond where the explosion had been. She had her digital camera with her. She wanted to see the extent of the damage for herself in the daylight. She wasn't sure if she should try to bring the case to Naru as an official SPR case, or just see if Masako could help the girl move on. She meant to try and take some pictures as well, in case Masako thought the spirit was too violent to work with directly and she needed to try and convince Naru to take on the case.
She came up short however when she nearly ran head first into John.
"Mai?"
"John?"
They both grinned at each other.
"I thought you were taking a few days off." He said, hitching a bag up onto his shoulder.
"I did too…" Her voice trailed off as she realized he was carrying camera equipment.
"Why are you here?" She asked.
"Well, Naru signs the paychecks now." He said with a philosophical shrug.
"Naru's here?" She asked.
He frowned. "Isn't that why you're here? I figured he must have called you after all."
"Actually, it's a little complicated. Did you hear about the explosion last night?" She asked.
"Yeah, that's why we're here. The event organizers were on our doorstep bright and early. They basically begged Naru to take on the case. Wait, you mean you were here for the fireworks last night?" His eyes widened in realization.
She nodded, opening her mouth to reply when he held up a hand to stop her.
"Naru will just make you repeat it in a minute. May as well just tell it once."
That made sense, so she followed him towards the water's edge. She could see Lin's tall silhouette now, but it took her a moment longer to find Naru where he knelt, taking photos of his own.
"How many people were hurt last night?" She whispered to John as they drew closer. "It was hard to tell in all the chaos last night."
"Three people were burned rather badly, one had a concussion, and one sustained moderate damage to his eyes." John whispered as they pushed through the crowd edging the water.
Lin frowned when he saw them.
"Kazaya." He said simply, reminding Mai that Naru had chosen to use his same professional name.
Naru straightened, looking between her and John expressionlessly. "I thought I told you not to bother the others."
John held up his hands. "I didn't have too. Mai showed up on her own."
Mai met Naru's eyes. "I was here last night with some friends attending the festival. I was sitting over there-" She gestured across the water to the hill where Ren had spread the blankets.
"I saw the explosion myself. And the spirit causing it. Here." She held out her journal where she had bookmarked the page. "This will be quicker."
She helped John finish setting up the camera's and thermometers as Naru grilled her on everything she had seen last night.
"And she attempted to attack you last night in your astral form?" He asked.
She frowned. He'd already asked her that. She shook her head. "It was more like a temper tantrum than anything else, honestly. She was looking for her Dad, and she was not interested in anyone else."
"Why did you come here instead of directly to the office? Hina was there. She would have called us." He asked coolly.
Hina was the secretary who was hired to watch the office specifically when none of the actual team members were on site. Mai didn't know her very well, since her presence in the office negated the need for Hina's. They were basically ships in the night.
"Well, I wanted to look around again. I wasn't sure if SPR needed to be involved or if Masako and I could take care of it. It was hard to see the extent of the damage last night."
"Your contract with SPR specifically states you aren't to take on side work of a supernatural nature."
It was a detail of her contract and Yasu's not listed in the other consultant's, since she and Yasu were SPR employees and the others merely consultants.
"It's not like it's a paid gig, Naru. And anyway, that's why I brought my camera, in case I needed photos to help convince you to take the case." Mai glared at him defensively.
Geez, did he think the only ghosts in Tokyo lined up patiently to await their turn with SPR? She saw or dreamt of spirits all the friggin 'time…
"You thought you needed proof to make me take the case?" He asked with an arched brow.
She shrugged again. "I gave up guessing your thoughts a long time ago. But-" She stepped closer, lowering her voice so John and Lin wouldn't overhear her.
"Gene warned me the girl's spirit was growing bitter and more malicious. I just wanted to have a more professional pitch for you if I needed it. I thought the photos would help."
She wrapped her arms around herself, looking anywhere but at him.
She heard him sigh. She glanced at him through her lashes. He was rubbing the bridge of his nose, either in fatigue or irritation, she wasn't sure which.
"Mai, I've told you before. I trust your instincts when it comes to cases. If you find a case, bring it to the office so we can deal with it."
"SPR?" She asked, thinking over his words. "Naru, I see things all the time. Sometimes the cases might be good research cases, but sometimes our cases need to be paid, as well, right?"
She was still a little foggy about where all of Naru's funds came from.
"As long as the case is handled professionally, and our paying clients are happy, there aren't many cases that can't be used for research purposes if nothing else. I have a great deal of discretion in how the Tokyo office handles it's funds."
"Okay, but-"
"Mai. It's my job to handle the financial aspect of it, and I am quite capable of doing so. You just let me know when you encounter something like this, so it can be dealt with appropriately.
"Okay." Mai said, but even she could hear the doubt in her voice. She couldn't help but remember the case she had asked him to take years ago on behalf of her classmate Michiru. Naru hadn't been the least bit interested in the case until Masako had basically blackmailed him into taking it…
"I can literally hear you thinking right now." Naru said, an edge of irritation in his voice.
"What? Okay, alright. I'll tell you when I hear about a ghost." She pursed her lips in exasperation.
"Or see one." He intoned, like he was giving out the playground rules.
"Or-see-one.." She parrotted back, letting him know she was humoring him now.
"Or have a dream about one." He added, turning away to walk back to his equipment.
His words brought her up short. Her dreams were not, by default, for public consumption. Sure, she'd brought her journal this time, but mostly because of Gene's warning. Sometimes her dreams were of the past. Sometimes they bordered on prophetic. Sometimes they were just her damn dreams…
He must have realized she hadn't followed him, because he turned around.
"Is there a problem?"
He said it like he knew there probably was, and was daring her to say it.
"No." She replied after a moment's pause.
He'd just have to learn the hard way. He'd once accused her of being bad at keeping secrets.
She'd gotten better at it.
"So, we know from Mai's dream that the ghost is of a young teen girl who is looking for her father, and she's probably been dead for a while, because her spirit is starting to escalate." Ayako mused from where she leaned against Mai's desk.
She was restless, pacing the room on occasion, a sharp change from her usual calm collection, and Mai wondered if it had to do with the way Bou-san's eyes tracked her every movement. It was rare for them to be in the same room together anymore, and even rarer that they weren't yelling at each other.
"Well, this is just a thought…" Mai said, trying to work her theory. "Without knowing how long she's been dead, I don't know if it matters, but I think her mom was either dead or living elsewhere."
Bou-san frowned at her. "How do you figure, jou-chan? You said you didn't really get a chance to talk with her. Didn't she call out for her father?"
"Well, her yukata was too short." Mai said.
"Ohh." Masako and Ayako were nodding their heads in understanding.
"I don't get it." Bou-San said, looking around the group.
"Well,I know my own mother was always after me about how I dressed growing up. She didn't like it when my shirt was untucked or if my pants were too short." John offered.
"So, you think her yukata being too short meant her mother was no longer around?" Yasu said, pushing his glasses up his nose thoughtfully.
Mai nodded. "Yeah, it's just a gut feeling. Most mom's in my experience take a lot of pride in making the yukata their daughter wears to the summer festival."
In high school she had hidden her envy whenever her friends had worn one. She still remembered the day she realized she had outgrown the one her mother made her when she was ten. She'd been so upset she'd skipped the festival that year.
In fact, now that she thought about it, last night was probably the first time she had gone to a festival since the year after her mom died. She'd been too busy working to support herself until now.
She realized Naru was watching her intently, and she forced herself to smile. "But like I said, I'm not even sure how much it even matters since we don't know how long she's been dead."
"Or why she only shows up for the four days of the summer festival." Lin added as he typed the minutes of their meeting.
"How do you know that? I thought we just took the case?" Masako queried, glancing curiously at Yasu, who simply shrugged.
"Well…" Naru actually looked a little uncomfortable as he stood. "The truth is, the festival organizers actually approached SPR four years ago. However, at that time we declined the case."
"Are you serious right now?" Mai said, glaring at him. After his big speech in the part about how she was supposed to tell him every stupid little thing she saw, he was admitting to declining the case once already.
"At the time, Kazeya was focused on locating his brother Gene." Lin said.
Mai flushed. She knew that. Of course, she knew that. But she wasn't sure if that actually made things any better. It just emphasized the fact that the last time they had worked together, Naru had been lying to them nearly constantly.
She saw the others share looks around the room and knew they were thinking similar thoughts. No one blamed Naru for searching for Gene, and no one really blamed him for doing it in secret. But it was still hard to listen to Lin admit that the way they remembered things wasn't actually the way Lin and Naru did.
To Mai and the rest of SPR, they had been a family. To Naru, they had been a way to search for his real family.
"Let's focus on the girl." Naru said.
"Yeah, okay." Mai agreed. If they had declined the case four years ago, in a way that made them responsible for what happened last night.
"What did the organizers have to say?"Bou-san asked, throwing Naru a bone.
"In all honesty, the first time they approached me, it was very haphazard. There was no reason to even think a spirit was definitively involved. There had been a series of accidents leading to rumors among their vendors that the park was an unlucky place to host a festival."
That made Mai feel a little better. Naru had always held a fairly strict criteria regarding what actually constituted a possible haunting. If the organizers had been trying to bring in SPR simply as a show to appease their vendors, not only would Naru have seen straight through it, but he would have turned them down flat.
"However, over the years, more and more incidents have occured. Patterns are starting to emerge, and the level of violence appears to be increasing. And for the last two years, other people have reported seeing a girl in a purple yukata causing mischief."
"Do you believe it to be a site bound spirit?" Masako asked.
"While we didn't have much time to research this morning, I did spend a few hours on it the first time. No events of any sort are ever reported in the park at any time except during the summer festival. It was part of the reason I originally chalked the accidents up to poor management on the organizers' part."
So he had at least looked into it.
"So during the festival even people who are not sensitive can see the girl?" Ayako said with a frown.
"Not always." Mai said. "I saw her three times last night, but neither Aoi, Shiori or Ren saw her."
"Wait, you went with Ren?" Yasu asked with a grin.
Her eyes widened. "It-was-not-like-that." The words shot out of her so fast she was surprised anyone would even understand her.
"I bet it would be if he had his way." Masako teased, and Mai closed her eyes.
"Wait, who is this Ren guy? Have I met him?" Bou-San narrowed his eyes at her.
"He's just a classmate. We went together last night as a group. A group of classmates." Mai said, choosing to completely ignore Ren's confession for the time being.
"Okay, but is he cute?" Ayako arched a brow at her.
"Could we focus on the case please?" Naru's voice literally dripped with disdain and Mai nodded fervently.
"Where do you want to start?" John asked.
"Yasu, could you use Mai's description to start going back through local deaths? The name and date of death will be important if we have to exorcise her." Naru said.
"Sure, how far back do you want me to start?" Yasu asked, writing notes to himself on his notepad.
"It's safe to say at least five years, since we have reports going back that far of incidents occurring during the festival." Naru said.
"Mai, what else do you remember about the girl?" Yasu asked.
Mai closed her eyes, recalling her dream. "I'd guess her at twelve or thirteen, but a little small for her age. She had a very slight build. Her face was pretty, but still kind of…" She moved her hand back and forth to show her difficulty.
"Unformed?" Ayako suggested. "Kids that age are growing out of their baby features. You can begin to see how they will look as adults, but it's not quite there yet."
Mai nodded. "Yeah, that's it."
That was the problem. Like all spirits of children, she looked so unfinished.
"The rest of us will patrol the festival tonight. Mai's friends may not have been able to see her, but I'd be surprised if at least some of us aren't able to." Naru said. "Lin will park the van on a nearby street. It was difficult to place camera's and thermometers because the organizers don't want to exacerbate any more rumors, especially after last night." Naru looked over towards Lin. "We'll pair up in teams and if the equipment picks up anything, send a mail to all the teams."
Lin nodded.
"Excuse me, is the Shibuya Psychic Research? " A man in a delivery uniform was in their doorway holding a few boxes.
"Yes, this is SPR's office." Mai had risen automatically, taking the packages and signing the slip. Frowning at the name on the slip, she quirked a brow at her boss.
"That does bring me to the last thing of note. The organizers asked that we dress appropriately for the festival. They want this investigation to be kept as quiet as possible."
