Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt. Manga 12 would be out in English...
Chapter 23 – The Ripple Effect
-0O0-
Madoka looked up in surprise as Yasuhara and Lin slumped back into base. Both men were still in day clothes and wore frustrated expressions. "What's wrong? All the excitement give you guys insomnia?"
"Hardly," Lin muttered. He collapsed onto the base's couch and stared sullenly at the wall.
As her boyfriend was apparently determined to be useless, Madoka turned her questioning gaze on Yasu.
"We won't be getting any sleep until Big Boss has finished yelling," the teen explained.
"What?" Madoka asked, alarmed. "I thought he and Mai-chan were okay!" The lead investigator and her protégée had given Mai and Noll about two minutes of privacy before sneaking down the hall after them. Just to make sure that Noll wasn't killing Mai, of course, and totally not to eavesdrop...
Neither wannabe-spy had been able to hear much in the end, but there certainly hadn't been enough yelling to warrant Madoka's intervention. Noll had even looked mostly alright upon leaving the girls' room. (For the second it took him to realize that she and Yasu were eavesdropping. Then his face went all super-pissed again.)
"Maybe Naru's forgiven Mai-chan," Yasuhara allowed. "But he and Gene-san are definitely not okay. By the time we got to our room, Big Boss was standing in front of the mirror, looking scarily thunderous. And he kicked us out!"
"Naturally," Madoka murmured. Noll much preferred to be alone when he spoke with his twin.
"We were waiting in the hall," Yasu continued. "But Big Boss has been yelling at Gene-san for at least ten minutes, and shows no sign of stopping anytime soon."
Madoka pursed her lips. "Don't you dare tell Noll I said this," she warned. "But I really don't blame him for being upset. There's really no legitimate reason for all this secrecy."
Yasuhara shook his head. "Gene-san seems to feel differently," he noted. "And Mai-chan kept it quiet because he asked her to."
"Which is undoubtedly why Taniyama-san is mostly off the hook," Lin surmised. "She's hardly the deceiving type."
"But neither is... was... Gene, though," Madoka argued sadly.
Lin's cheek twitched. "That is not entirely true. Gene was secretive when he wanted to be." I should know, the onmyouji thought guiltily.
"But he hardly ever hid things from Noll," Madoka insisted. Then an idea struck her. "Perhaps that's what has Oliver so upset. If Gene's personality has changed, then..." She paused, reluctant to suggest it aloud. "Then maybe... his spirit is in danger."
"Mai-chan says his spirit is okay," Yasu assured Madoka. "Both she and Ayako have been monitoring the situation. Ayako checked with the trees, and Mai-chan's senses are very keen... even if her judgment might not be as consistent."
Madoka felt a moment's comfort... before Yasuhara's unexpected wealth of knowledge on the subject annoyed her all over again. "Yasu – you knew about all this, didn't you?" she accused, waving a hand towards the hotel rooms in which Mai and Naru were closeted.
Yasuhara eyes went sharp – before the glare from his glasses hid his expression entirely. "Yes," he replied flatly.
"And yet you told me nothing?" Madoka asked incredulously.
"It wasn't my business to tell," Yasu replied evenly.
"Like that's ever stopped either of us before!"
"Yes, it has," Yasuhara contested calmly. "For instance, I haven't given you the rundown of Mai-chan's recent romantic history – even though you've asked me about it. And I won't, because Mai-chan specifically requested my silence on the matter. I didn't say anything about Gene-san for the same reason. Besides..." Yasu stared into the nearest monitor. "Like Mai-chan said... she owes Gene-san. Well, so do Bou-san, Ayako, and I. Gene-san's given us a lot of help. If our silence was what he wanted in return, then I had no qualms about keeping my mouth shut."
Lin shifted in his chair, knowing that his next statements would probably land him in trouble. "I respect your decision, Yasuhara-san," he said decisively. His gaze shifted to Madoka. "And we really have no right to protest."
"What?" His girlfriend's eyes bugged out.
"Consider, Madoka," Lin challenged. "The employees of SPR Japan worked a whole year without even knowing their boss' real name." He raised an eyebrow. "And you and I both went along with it."
The master ghost hunter actually looked contrite for a moment. "I guess that's true."
"It's not fair to lambast Yasuhara-san for something that both of us have done to him," Lin intoned. "Gene undoubtedly has a reason for keeping Noll in the dark. And remember, this is not the first time he has been mysteriously silent on important matters."
"What do you mean?" Yasu asked curiously.
"I'm sure you know that Gene repeatedly appeared to Taniyama-san during the days of SPR Japan," Lin explained. "So why didn't Gene tell her who he was? Or where his body was? Or anything?"
"Mai-chan has asked him about that," Yasuhara revealed. "Gene-san told her that if Naru wasn't saying anything, he figured he should follow suit."
"I suppose that makes sense, given the circumstances." Madoka said thoughtfully.
Yasu shrugged noncommittally. "Yeah, I thought so."
Lin stayed silent, unconvinced. Noll had a good reason for not revealing his identity in Japan; he was on a personal mission that involved a murder and a cover-up. There was no guarantee that Gene's killer had not known (or found out) the name of her victim. If the famous Oliver Davis' name and face had made headlines, Noll could have been in danger.
But Gene had no such excuse. He had obviously realized that Mai was regularly interacting with Noll, so telling her his identity posed little threat. Gene certainly had no qualms with giving Mai case information. Logically, Gene should have said something – especially since he knew (through Mai) that Noll was working in Japan. Gene must have known that Noll had come to find him. Any way Lin looked at it, if Gene had just told Mai the truth, his body would have been found a lot quicker.
So then why hadn't he?
Lin stared at Mai's notes on the table, abandoned in her haste to leave the base. Scattered and out of order, like the pieces of this puzzle,. There had to be a deeper reason for Gene's initial refusal to inform Mai that he was Oliver's twin. Similarly, there had to be a reason Gene did not want Noll to know about his continuing meetings with Mai. It had to be important, if Gene went so far as to ask Mai to lie for him.
And speaking of Mai... there was still the possibility that her PK-MT glowed when in use. Once again, she could have just neglected to mention it... but something told Lin that there was something more to it. Just like there was more to this business with Gene.
The mysteries were simply piling up, Lin thought. Interesting, that they were piled around Mai Taniyama – one of the least deceptive people he had ever encountered. Lin's lips twitched. In an ironic twist of fate, the roles established at SPR Japan had switched. Mai (and likely Yasuhara) held the secrets... while Naru, Lin, and Madoka tried to sort through the clues. "Not so rosy on the other side of the door," he murmured.
"Koujo, are you still with us?" Madoka's annoyed voice asked.
As Lin dutifully rejoined the conversation, he decided not to tell his girlfriend about his suspicions. He felt these situations needed to be handled subtly. Madoka tended to go after answers like a hound after a fox - ruthlessly and noisily. Lin and Oliver were going to have a hard enough time convincing her not to blab to the professor.
Telling Professor Davis that his deceased son was hanging around in the afterlife would require care and discretion. And while Madoka certainly cared, 'discretion' was not in her functional vocabulary.
Yasuhara's voice broke into Lin's thoughts. "Hey, Madoka-san," he called. "How about I take over watching the base for tonight?"
"Are you that afraid of Noll's temper?" Madoka queried, laughing.
"While I'm surely next on the list of interrogation subjects," Yasu mused, "That's not it." He looked thoughtfully out the open door and into the empty hallway, an oddly conflicted look on his face.
Madoka had reached the end of her patience for information-concealment. "Yasu, if there's a problem –"
"It's Mai-chan," Yasuhara cut across her. "I think someone should be in the room with her tonight."
"In case Noll goes back for Round Two?" Madoka's tone was light, but her eyes were serious.
"No," Yasuhara replied slowly, his eyes a mix of concern and trepidation. "But Mai-chan might..." he trailed off, thinking things over. They already know she sees Gene-san, his rational side argued. It's only a matter of time before they figure out the dreams. And what if Mai-chan DOES have the dream tonight? She'll be alone in the room, screaming and choking.
That decided it. Mai would probably be angry with him later, but Yasuhara really didn't want her dealing with The Nightmare alone. She'd had a turbulent enough night already. "Mai-chan might have her death dream tonight," Yasu revealed. "And I don't want her to be alone if it happens."
"But didn't she have it last week?" Madoka asked, confused. According to the 'schedule,' the next vision should still be a week off.
"Yes, she did," Yasuhara replied slowly. "But..." He paused and looked straight into Madoka's eyes. "Sometimes the dream is brought on by thinking about Gene-san before sleeping... and after everything that's happened tonight, Mai-chan's got to be thinking about him." Not to mention Gene's spirit was right down the hall. If proximity had anything to do with it, Mai-chan was toast.
"Huh?" Madoka was totally lost. "Why would thinking about Gene prompt Mai-chan's death dream?" That would indicate that Gene was somehow connected to the dead person that Mai saw in the vision... Madoka noticed that Yasuhara was still staring straight at her, as if silently willing her to understand something... oh. Her hand flew to her mouth. "Oh, no." Madoka shook her head, hoping that she misunderstood Yasu's cues.
No such luck, as Yasuhara nodded slowly. "Mai-chan didn't want anyone – especially Naru – to know who the dream was about. She knew it would upset everybody."
So... then Mai had been forced to watch... no, to feel Gene die in psychic visions every couple of weeks? "Oh, how horrible," Madoka moaned. Forget how it upset anyone else – how did Mai get through that?
Despite her earlier rant about information-sharing, SPR's lead investigator completely understood Mai's desire to keep this from Noll. And from Luella, for that matter. No wonder Mai had been so adamant that she would handle the visions alone when Ayako left. She was probably afraid she'd let Luella (who was slated as Mai's new wake-up helper) know somehow... "Tomorrow I'm going to buy Mai-chan twenty sets of gloves in every color," Madoka decided, sounding oddly like she had a stuffy nose. "And I'm going to take you up on that offer to watch the base, Yasu. Someone should be with Mai-chan, just in case."
Lin was feeling rather overcome himself. Mai had been dealing with recurring dreams of Gene's death... for over a year? And she'd hidden it from everyone of Gene's acquaintance, in order to spare them the pain. Lin suddenly felt foolish; he had underestimated the teen psychic.
As Madoka came towards him, Lin held out his notes. "Take these," he told her blankly, "Something to read." His girlfriend smiled through sad eyes, and Lin's fingers felt numb as she slid the papers from his hand.
And then the shiki he'd sent to watch over Mai came rocketing into the room, bearing an urgent message for its master.
-0O0-
"What were you thinking?" Naru yelled into the mirror. The image inside it - a slightly younger-looking version of himself - cringed slightly. The living twin outside the mirror could sense the great internal upset which accompanied Gene's physical reaction.
"Noll, I already told you –"
"Already told me what, Gene?" the normally composed Davis twin hissed. "That you didn't mean to hurt me? That's a lie. You purposely misled me for almost two years, on a matter of great importance! There is no way you thought that I wouldn't be… displeased." Naru refused to label his feelings as 'hurt.'
Unfortunately, Gene saw (or rather heard) right through that. "The world's not going to end if you admit you're hurt, Noll," he alleged. "You wouldn't be yelling at me if you were merely displeased." His twin flashed a smile. "By the way, saying you're 'displeased' makes you sound like a pompous ass."
"Then it should be right on target with the general opinion of my demeanor," Naru grumbled. His many arguments with Mai over attitude came unbidden to his mind.
Which of course Gene picked up on. "Mai-chan doesn't think you're a pompous ass... well, maybe she does," he admitted, lips twitching. "But she knows there's a lot more to you than your inability to agreeably interact with others."
Naru knew his brother was correct. Mai was genuinely fond of him, despite her often-aired grievances with his behavior. This affection sometimes confused Naru... especially since he now knew that Mai had regular clandestine meetings with the more amiable and caring Davis twin. Naru gritted his teeth.
"Noll, are you serious?" Gene asked incredulously, watching his twin go tense all over and reading his incredibly misguided thoughts. His genius brother still thought that Mai...?
Gene's disbelieving expression reminded Naru that he was broadcasting his uncomfortable suppositions right to the person they concerned. He slammed his mental walls up in a flash, and forcibly wiped all emotion from his face. "Of course it wouldn't be my business," Naru said rather tightly. "Except that any... strong emotional attachment... to a living person will only increase the probability that you will linger in this state."
The spirit in the mirror stared. What exactly was Noll insinuating? "Noll, the living person I'm most emotionally attached to is you," he pointed out. When Oliver blanched at the implications, Gene hurried to add, "But that's not what's keeping me here."
"Then what is keeping you here?" Naru asked demandingly.
Suppose I walked right into that one, Gene thought. "Things," he replied vaguely.
"Things?" Naru repeated, eyes narrow. "As in more than one 'thing' is tying you to this earth?"
Damn it, Gene thought. This was why he wanted Noll to know as little as possible! But, he reminded himself, keeping the transfer a secret – until the right moment, anyway – was worth having to work a little harder to keep his twin guessing. "Maybe," Gene answered evasively, hoping his insouciant tone would incense Noll enough that he'd start yelling again and leave off Gene's unfinished business... nope, didn't work. Noll's body tensed and he gritted his teeth again.
"Don't even try it," Naru hissed. "I have had enough of people trying to elude me tonight. Speaking of which, I do not appreciate your teaching Mai the finer points of evasion and concealment. It doesn't suit her."
Gene took that as, 'Don't pollute my Mai's wonderfulness with your sneaky skills.' He bit back a grin. "She's only doing it as a favor to me, idiot scientist. Mai-chan doesn't like lying to you. I'm sure she'll go back to her bright, shiny self straightaway."
And Mai would probably be much happier, now that at least one secret was out of the way. Knowing Noll was onto her had only freaked Mai out. Freed from the guilt and anxiety of lying to Oliver, Mai would probably be even lighter and brighter than her usual. That should go a long way toward improving Noll's temper, Gene reckoned.
Indeed, Gene's assertions had already penetrated his twin's wall of anger – Noll's posture relaxed slightly, and his eyes went soft.
Taking advantage of this change, Gene tried to make peace. "Look, Noll, I'm sorry. I don't want to lie to you... but you're forcing me to." Noll opened his mouth, but Gene kept talking. "I am going to wait until my 'unfinished business' is accomplished, and nothing you can say is going to change that. I was a medium in life and am very well aware of the risks associated with my actions – and I am not currently in danger of going to the bad."
Naru huffed, deliberately thinking about several of the nastier degenerated spirits they'd dealt with over the years.
Gene sighed at the barrage of mental images he received from Noll's head. "Mai-chan would notice any change in that regard, and will likely report it you immediately." He ignored Noll's snort of derision in favor of fixing his brother with a very serious look. "I'll leave when I have to, Noll. But until then, I will remain Mai's spirit guide and your psychically-linked twin. And if you weren't such a bugger about all this, I would have told you about meeting with Mai-chan long ago."
"Gene..." Naru started.
"I know it's because you love me, Noll," his twin continued feelingly. "And I'd likely have gotten just as worked up if it was you hanging around after..." he trailed off, overcome. Noll looked similarly afflicted.
A long moment later, Gene rallied. "But trust me, will you? And trust Mai-chan."
"You're both making it very hard," Naru replied dryly.
"We both have your best interests at heart," Gene said cryptically.
"What is that supposed to..." Naru's train of thought derailed as Gene suddenly shuddered violently. "What's wrong?" Gene had just said there was no reason to worry.
"It's Mai-chan," Gene replied, turning to look at something Naru couldn't see. "I guess all the arguing about me set it off."
"Set what off?" Naru demanded.
"Mai's vision," Gene answered. His eyes were remorseful. "The one she has about me."
Naru's breath hitched. "Mai told me that thinking about you can force it early."
Gene nodded morosely. "I know. I'm still sorry about it. Tell her for me, will you?"
"Tell her what?" Naru noticed that the outlines of Gene's reflection had gone hazy.
"That I'm sorry for – never mind. Go and wake her up, Noll, before it gets too... far." Gene started to fade away. "She gets sick if she stays in it for too long."
The awful memory of Mai retching in the guest bathroom filled Naru's ears. He jerked his head in a quick nod of farewell and sprinted from the room.
-0O0-
Koujo Lin jumped to attention. "My shiki advises that Taniyama-san is experiencing psychic issues."
"It's the death dream," Yasuhara asserted. "You guys go, I'll watch the base." He figured that any lasting anger would fade once Lin and Madoka saw the after-effects of Mai's vision through new eyes. Yasu threw Madoka a bottle of soda from the mini-fridge. "Make Mai-chan drink that if she throws up!"
"Right," Madoka nodded. She grabbed Lin's hand, and the two rushed out of base.
As they made to run down the hall, however, the door to the boys' room burst open and Naru came flying out. He bolted across the floor, skidded to a stop in front of the room Mai and Madoka shared... and was thwarted by an unanticipated problem.
"Getting the key card usually helps, Noll," Madoka noted, huffing slightly as she came up behind him.
"And deprive you of exercise you obviously need?" a tense Naru shot back.
Madoka's retort was swallowed by a shrill scream from inside the room. Luckily, long years of cool behavior under pressure made Madoka a sure hand with the key card.
Naru turned the handle and brushed right past his former teacher into the room. "Mai!" he barked.
The girl in question was frozen stiff underneath the covers. Suddenly, Mai's whole body jerked violently from the torso outwards. A second later, it happened again. As if someone very strong had dealt her a one-two punch... or something with two axles had rolled over her. Naru fought down his own horrible memories and took Mai's limp shoulders. "Mai, wake up!"
She only screamed louder in response. Then Mai started to cry, clawing with her fingers at something none of them could see.
Lin saw that Naru wasn't getting through to Mai. He also knew that letting this go on any longer was bad for everyone, including his abnormally shaken-looking girlfriend. When Martin had told Lin about the nightmare Mai experienced during her first night in England, he'd also mentioned the method used to snap her out of it. Lin wasn't thrilled with the idea of slapping Mai across the face, but they were running out of time. Unless...
The onmyouji whistled. Instantly, one of his shiki whizzed into the room. Lin considered – he couldn't have it fly through Mai, as that might harm her. So instead, Lin ordered that his servant fly just close enough to create a psychic disturbance. Hopefully, that would break the hold of the dream...
...and Lin breathed a quiet sigh of relief as Mai Taniyama shot up in bed. She was wide-eyed and terrified, but obviously awake.
Mai didn't realize where she was at first, only that she was suddenly not locked in the trunk of a car and feebly scrabbling for a way out. Her legs also worked again, so... she was definitely not in the dream anymore.
Her overwhelming sense of relief lasted only for a moment, though, as it gave way to the crushing recollection that such assistance had never come for Gene. Mai fell back against the headboard, put her face in her hands, and cried.
Socially inept as he was, Naru knew he should do something to console Mai. He was sitting right beside her, after all... but more importantly, he was also the one who best understood Mai's current hysteria. But what to do? Naru was not accustomed to comforting people... and he didn't feel that playing PK keep-away with a coin was going to fix Mai this time. He was also intensely conscious of the presence of Lin and Madoka.
Mai sobbed harder, and Naru suddenly wanted to order the two other ghost hunters away. Maybe he could deal with this if there weren't an audience. Unfortunately, it looked like Madoka was rooted in place. Lin was similarly motionless beside her; his expression as gormless as Naru assumed his own was.
And then – thankfully – Madoka took charge. She unfroze, crossed to the bed with quick strides, and pulled Mai into her arms. The distraught teen immediately buried her face in the lead investigator's shoulder.
Something in Naru's gut clenched as he watched Mai's fingers lock onto Madoka's blouse. Her hands were shaking and her non-splinted knuckles were white.
"Oh, Mai-chan," Madoka murmured, stroking her hair. "I can't believe you've been seeing..."
She trailed off, but she'd said enough for Mai to figure out that they all knew. Had Naru...?
"Mai-chan, it's over," Madoka soothed. "It's over."
"You're right," Mai whispered sadly. Gene's life was over.
The same thought must have occurred to Madoka, because she quickly switched tacts. "He wouldn't want you to feel like this," she said softly.
These words rang in Naru's head, and he suddenly remembered what Gene had asked him to tell Mai. "He doesn't," Naru certified. "Gene... told me to tell you he was sorry."
Mai raised her head at his words, and Naru was surprised to see her smile through watery eyes. "I know," she said softly. "But like I always tell him, it's not his fault." She blinked, and another tear slipped down her cheek.
Lin's curiosity got the better of him. "Why would it be Gene's fault?"
Mai sucked in a shocked breath, and Madoka turned to glare at her idiot boyfriend.
In an effort to head off the impending argument, Naru answered the question. "Gene is her... spirit guide," he said haltingly, glancing sideways at Mai.
She nodded in agreement, wiping at her face. Mai took a moment to recover some composure before directly addressing Lin. She owed it to him, after all – Mai's instincts told her that Lin was the one who'd woken her from the nightmare. "Yes, he's my spirit guide. The psychic connection between us has gotten, um, strong enough... for me to see the vision of his death."
"A first-person vision, obviously," Lin said clinically. Caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice Mai's face twist with pain.
Madoka's jaw dropped at her boyfriend's colossal insensitivity. She moved toward the edge of the bed, fully intending to whack him one.
"Lin," Naru hissed. If even he knew better than to ask such questions at a time like this, then surely Lin must.
"I'm sorry, Taniyama-san," Lin apologized quickly. He hadn't actually meant to say that out loud; he was just trying to sort through the facts. "I'm just confused – Bou-san informed us that the time between visions was lengthening, which would suggest that the vision is losing its hold over you. But if the psychic connection between..."
Even LIN pauses over the name, Mai noted grimly.
"...Gene, and yourself has strengthened over time, then wouldn't the opposite be true? Wouldn't the visions come with increasing frequency?"
"I wondered about that, as well," Naru admitted quietly.
All eyes swung back to Mai.
She cleared her throat and thought quickly. "Well, yes, I suppose that would make sense. But it wasn't strictly our connection that caused the visions." She didn't want to lie again. Maybe being extra-vague would work. "The initial vision... and its recurrences... were caused by, um, a special event. A special event that... um, isn't happening anymore."
Naru's stomach lurched. What sort of 'special event' could have caused an emotional and psychic syncing powerful enough to give Mai lasting death visions? And also make Mai look so flustered? Strangely, Naru found he could not make himself ask her.
Lin did not have such problems. "What 'event' would that be, Taniyama-san?"
This situation reminded Mai about Lin's interrogation during training... and then Mai had a brainwave. "Gene was training me," she replied. Lin had asked about the higher-level skills scattered amongst her taolu. "He was really the one who taught me the PK skills you noticed," she said truthfully. "Gene taught me some of his own qigong techniques – which I assume were taught to him by you, Lin-san."
Lin's eyes widened slightly. That certainly explained a few things. He had attempted (several times) to identify exactly what bothered him about Mai's taolu. She hadn't been doing anything wrong... there was just something about the familiar movements that nagged at him.
And that was just it. Mai's arm movements were familiar. Those higher-level taolu poses – the ones which Lin had noticed during Mai's first lesson – were nearly identical to the exercises he had taught Noll and Gene years ago.
Mai resisted the urge to bite her lip as she watched Lin digest this explanation. She wasn't really lying – her aura had synced very closely with Gene's throughout training for the transfer. In fact, that was the goal of the training. The transfer, of course, was the actual over-synchronizing 'special event' that had accidentally caused the death visions. But it wasn't yet time for that reckoning.
Still beside Mai on the bed, Naru released a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. So there hadn't been any binding romantic 'event?' That was relieving. After all, it would have given Mai's and Gene's already dangerous spiritual attachment an unsafe physical component. Well, his scientific brain amended, not really physical, as they both would have been spirits when... Naru pushed his thoughts away, feeling slightly sick. He supposed it was normal fraternal disgust at the thought of his brother... with someone.
Madoka watched Noll's super-tight posture relax slightly – as he processed that no, Mai had not had spirit-sex with his dead brother. She was rather amused that Noll's mind had gone the same wayward path as her own at Mai's awkward words; he was not one to assign ambiguously-worded phrases to innuendo.
Not that Madoka actually thought that anything innuendo-worthy happened between Mai and Gene, of all people. Her mind just worked that way - prolonged exposure to Yasuhara was probably making it worse. Maybe Yasu was corrupting Noll's brain, too? Madoka swallowed an inappropriate giggle at the unprecedented evidence of vulgarity in the way-too-serious Oliver Davis.
Oblivious to these side dramas, Lin continued his questioning. "You're saying that Gene was training you, but isn't now?"
"Right," Mai said. "I mean, he still gives me tips and stuff, but we're not hard-core training my powers during astral projections anymore."
"Why not?" Lin and Naru asked simultaneously.
Mai jumped a bit at the sudden two-prong attack. "Well, right before we came to England, I took another couple of lessons from my onmyouji master in Japan... and now I'm here, where you guys are training me. I don't need more training."
"Yes, but the vision has reportedly been fading over time," Naru repeated, throwing Mai's own assurances back at her. "Both of those changes are fairly recent."
"Once I had enough control over my powers, Yasu and I took the responsibility of training onto ourselves," Mai replied, a little testily. "And it's hard for Gene to stay... awake for long periods of time." She studied the patterns in the blanket beneath her hands. "Besides, our training sessions were never supposed to continue indefinitely."
"You're inferring that my brother does plan on crossing over, at some point?" Naru asked, eyes sharp.
Mai couldn't help smiling at Naru's quiet persistence. She knew he'd recognize the hidden meaning in her words. "Yes," she answered. "That's what I get from him, anyway." And if Gene waited too long, Mai would enlist Naru's help – Gene would not remain stuck if they had anything to do with it.
Wait, Mai thought. Stuck. He would not remain stuck. That was Georgie's problem, wasn't it? He was stuck... he always had been. Mai bit her lip, silently working up a strategy. This could be her chance to make up for misreading the haunting!
Across the room, Lin continued to scrutinize Mai. He could tell there were things she wasn't saying. And she was certainly thinking hard about something right now...
The onmyouji's girlfriend narrowed her eyes. Koujo was about to ask more callous questions, wasn't he? Madoka slid off the bed, walked over to Lin... and pinched his arm really hard. She had the satisfaction of seeing the stoical man wince in pain. "Shut it, jerk," she hissed. It had been a very rough night, and Mai and Noll looked mostly calm now. Madoka was not letting Lin ruin it!
"Thank you," a quiet voice said from behind her. Madoka looked back to see Mai smiling softly. "All of you," she added, twisting her hands in the bedclothes.
Madoka smiled warmly back. "No problem, Mai-chan," she replied feelingly. She was totally buying Mai twenty pairs of gloves in every color.
Meanwhile, Naru surfaced from deep thoughts to realize that he was the only one still on the bed with Mai. He stood immediately, and crossed quickly (but smoothly) to the door before addressing his former teacher. "Madoka, you should stay with Mai tonight. I will watch the base."
"How pleasingly unselfish of you, Noll," Madoka enthused. "But I already decided that I'm staying - and that Yasu's watching the base. You did base duty last night." She could tell that he was going to argue. "Get some rest, Noll. We're doing the exorcism in the morning, and I want all of our spiritualists on target for that." It was really that Noll needed a good night's sleep after all this drama... but Madoka figured he wouldn't take well to her saying so.
Luckily, Noll appeared to accept her reasoning. "Fine," he assented shortly. Oliver's eyes lingered for a moment on Mai before he left the room.
After shooing the still-in-trouble Lin out the door, Madoka threw the TV remote at Mai. "Watch something; it'll distract you," she instructed. "And then you need to sleep, too, Mai-chan. We've got work to do in the morning."
"Yeah, I know," Mai replied, ducking her head. "Sorry I messed up the schedule." Before Madoka could disagree, Mai spoke again. "But on the bright side, I think I've figured out how to get Georgie to cross over."
-0O0-
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
"Georgie! Georgie, are you...? AAAAAAAAH!"
Slow footsteps, and the hissing sound of something dragging across the floor...
Silence for a moment. Then, like a song on repeat, it started again.
"NOOOOOOOOO!"
-0O0-
Mai's eyes popped open, and she gasped for breath. Her ears rang with screaming... two people screaming, over and over again in her head.
After a minute, the screams became quieter. Sometimes Mai's psychic dreaming didn't cut off cleanly upon waking. Sometimes it took a couple extra minutes. Over and over again, the same screams. I was right, Mai thought with some satisfaction. He's stuck.
"Mai-chan?" Madoka asked sleepily. "You okay?" Mai's bed bounced a bit as Madoka sat up and shifted towards her. The master ghost hunter had pushed her bed right up against Mai's - so that she'd wake if Mai did.
"Yes," Mai said softly. "More dreams. Not that dream, though," she added quickly.
"About the case, then?"
"Mm-hm." Mai closed her eyes and the screams got louder. "I think I should stay awake for a little while," she groaned. "If I go back to sleep now, I'll just keeping hearing them."
"Hearing?"
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm listening to Georgie's death, over and over again."
"That sucks," Madoka commiserated. "But it does gel with your 'stuck' theory."
"I think that's what prompted the dream," Mai replied. "My instincts work that way sometimes - if I'm right about a hunch, or if I'm looking for some particular information, my dreaming gets more on-target."
"That's helpful," Madoka noted. "We should probably have hooked you up to the EEG tonight. I forgot, with all the excitement."
"Well, we could do it now," Mai suggested. "I have the feeling I'm going to dream some more."
A pause. "Nah," Madoka replied. "Another time."
She sounded kind of... off. Mai frowned. "It's really okay. I'm over my issues with the electrodes, and we'd probably get good data."
Another pause. "But Mai-chan, what if...that dream comes again? Lin and Noll don't want to tell Martin..." And Professor Davis' finding out about Gene through a data scan would be awful.
Mai rolled over to face Madoka. The room was dim, but Mai could still see the hesitant expression in her eyes. "You wouldn't be able to tell I was dreaming about Gene, Madoka-san. You were the one who told me, remember? You don't get names and pictures from the scans."
Madoka nodded thoughtfully. Then her eyes widened. "Wait, that's who you were worried about?"
"Huh?" Mai was lost.
"Yasu and I thought you were worried about the scans showing us your pervy dreams about Noll!"
Mai choked. "Madoka-san! Don't say it like that!"
"Why not? Because it embarrasses you? Or because you think Noll can somehow hear me?" Madoka felt much better being on the edge of laughter than tears.
"Madoka-saaaaaan!"
"You know I'll only stop if you tell me."
Mai buried her face in a pillow, hoping the material would cool her burning face. Plus, she wouldn't have to look at Madoka when she answered. "When I asked you about it... I was thinking about Naru."
Madoka snorted with laughter, and Mai mashed her face into the bedclothes.
"Later on, I did worry about you guys finding out about Gene," she said into the pillow. "But then I asked him. He said that you guys wouldn't be able to tell if he caused an astral projection. So it would be safe for the professor to study."
"Then it was really Gene that you went to see that first night?" Madoka asked, her tone more serious.
"Yes," Mai admitted. "And Naru totally figured it out, even though I tried to throw him off."
"Well, you're not exactly a criminal mastermind, Mai-chan."
"I usually leave criminal masterminding to Yasu."
"Good call."
Mai giggled, finally removing her face from the bedding. "Anyway, so Gene cleared that one up. Not that it mattered, really - Naru only got more suspicious after that night."
"Nice to finally know what was bothering him," Madoka mused. "Koujo and I had been wondering. He's been even touchier than usual."
Mai nodded. "Gene told me that Naru was onto us."
"Which brings me to another question, Mai-chan." Madoka speared Mai with a laser stare of her own. "Why did it have to be a secret, anyway?"
The teen psychic froze for a moment, and she stared down at her blanket. Well, since Naru already knew... "Gene knows that Naru wants him to cross over. He thought that if Naru knew that Gene was my spirit guide, he'd worry about the state of Gene's spirit."
Madoka's stomach dropped. "Well... should he be worried?"
The nervous undertone in Madoka's voice drew Mai's eyes back up. "No," she said reassuringly. "He's okay." Mai stared straight into Madoka's eyes. "And I promise I'll tell you right away if he's not."
Madoka smiled at the fierceness in Mai's expression. 'If you're going to swear an oath, swear it to Noll," the master ghost hunter drawled.
Mai rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying I won't sit back and let Gene get stuck."
"Like Georgie," Madoka mused.
A tremor ran through Mai's body at the mention of the case. "Yes," Mai said seriously, looking down at her splinted hand. "Like Georgie."
"I told Lin to adjust the camera angles, just like you suggested," Madoka informed her.
"That's great, Madoka-san," Mai replied. "I think we'll get something." A wave of sleepiness overcame her, and Mai laid back down.
"Even if we don't, I'm still going with your exorcism idea," Madoka insisted. "I agree with you."
Mai nodded hazily. Back to dreamland. "I still want evidence to show Naru," she revealed. "You know how he is about hard data."
"Of course I do, Mai-chan. I taught him," Madoka replied smugly.
"Hmm, sometimes I forget that," Mai murmured, snuggling down into the covers. "You're so much... peppier than he is. Ne, Madoka-san... couldn't you have taught Naru about happy employer-employee relationships?"
"Oh, I did," Madoka asserted, settling back into bed herself. "I'm not responsible for how Noll chose to interpret my lessons."
-0O0-
AN: Okay, okay, I know - it's been two weeks. I have literally been staring at this for days, trying to figure out why it wasn't doing what it was supposed to do. I think it's finally ready. BTW, lazzykane, your adorable rhyming review made my day and broke me out of my funk. So, thanks:) And thank you to everybody who reads/reviews this story, I am so thankful for each and every one of you!