Chapter Thirteen
Last time, on If you listen hard enough…
"Torao," he asked, very serious. "Did you mean it before, when you said that it was a human poltergeisting?"
"Of course," She answered. "I wouldn't lie about such a thing.
"Do you know who?"
"… Not for certain. I can make an educated guess, though. Do you have any scientific way to prove it?"
Cupping his chin, Naru nodded, lost in thought. "I have a method that has never failed. But it will take me some time to get everything ready."
"That's ok," Mai told him. "You go and do that – we'll set up some of the equipment again, just in case."
Monday, 28th April, 2008
Someone placed their hand on Mai's forehead. Her eyes fluttered open, and instead of the old Schoolhouse, she found herself almost floating in black space, white lights slowly drifting past. There was a boy in black in front of her, blue-eyed and raven haired, with a beatific smile on his face.
"Naru…?" She whispered. "No, you're not – you're from before! Who are you?"
"I am Gene," He answered, voice echoing as if from very far away. "Who are you?"
"I'm Mai. Where are we?"
"The astral plain. How did you get here?"
Mai shot up suddenly. "Ah, of course! There really is a poltergeist at the school! O-ow…"
"You should rest more," Gene scolded her gently, lowering her back to the "ground". "A poltergeist? How do you know that?"
"The cubby that fell on me was warm – my boss said that things a poltergeist moves retain heat."
"Very good!" Gene congratulated her, smiling angelically.
"Say," Mai asked, blushing from the praise. "Why do you look like that?"
"Like wh – "
"Jou-chan!"
Mai's eyes snapped open.
"Thank goodness," Torao sighed, just off to her left.
"She's coming around," John agreed happily.
"Are you alright?" Bou-san asked.
"We thought you were dead!" Ayako added – Torao swatted her arm, eyes fierce.
"Sorry," Mai whispered.
"You've been out most of the night," Tora scolded. "Everyone was worried." I was really worried, was the undertone that Mai heard. She gave her sister a guilty look, and received a tiny smile in return – she was forgiven.
"It's four o'clock already!" Bou-san piped.
"Did Naru come back?" Mai asked.
"Nope,"
"Kuroda-san?"
"She went home," The priestess answered. "Say, don't you think something feels wrong here? The exorcisms had absolutely no effect. It's about time we thought about our own safety, isn't it?"
"You're saying you want to run away?" The sisters said in sync – Mai in surprise, Torao in disgust.
"Now, look!" The priestess snapped, flicking red hair over her shoulder. "It was your boss who ran away first, wasn't it?! He's probably at home, quivering right now!"
"Are you serious?!"
"No," Bou-san interrupted. "He probably ran away because of us. We did all gang up on him this afternoon, after all."
Mai snorted. "You mean, that incredibly swollen-headed, self-assured, world's-greatest holier-than-thou narcissist?" She tried to imagine Naru running away from a case, but couldn't quite see it happening.
"In Shibuya-san's case," John said, "he probably got mad and went home to make up some straw effigy dolls, don't you think?"
There was a moment of quiet where everyone imagined that, before they burst out giggling.
"Well!" Torao finally sighed. "We should go – Mai and I still have school today, so we need to go and get ready. Thank you for helping me look after her, too."
Everyone said their pleasantries and went home – John offering to walk the girls back, though they politely declined, and thanked him for his help earlier that day.
"So?" Torao murmured when they had put a block between themselves and the others. "Why did you ask about Naru-ya?"
"My dream."
"Last night's? Or a new one?"
"Both. Someone who looks exactly like Naru showed up in them. The first time, he kept trying to talk, but I couldn't hear anything. Then the dream changed, and I felt… like no one would listen to me, or acknowledge me. My parents didn't want me, my classmates wouldn't talk to me, the teachers tolerated me. It was weird. This time, though… I woke up in this place called an astral plane? And that person was there again, so I asked him his name, and he said it was … Jin-san? Or something."
Torao snorted. "Did you forget already?"
"No!"
Chuckling softly, Tora pulled her sister over into a one-armed hug. "Never change, aneue."
At school later that morning, Michiru and Keiko both practically jumped on Mai, worry and excitement waring on their faces.
"Mai!"
"Are you ok?"
"We heard you were hurt!"
"Now how did you hear such a thing?" Tora asked lightly, eyes sharp.
"From Kuroda-san," Keiko answered, pointing. "She's been bragging about it to everyone."
"Still, it was surprising, huh?" Michiru asked her.
"Mm-hmm, out of nowhere, Shibuya-san called us up!"
"When!" Mai exclaimed, glancing from one girl to the other. "Did he say anything?!"
"Last night?" Michiru said hesitatingly, leaning backwards.
"What did you talk about?" Mai demanded of Keiko, hands on her shoulders.
"U-um, this and that. Stuff about the old schoolhouse, as well as, um…"
"Stuff about Kuroda-san, too." Michiru added. "And, ah… you two."
Before the sisters could ask anything more, a teacher called out to them and Kuroda-san, sending them to the principal's office.
Mai shot Tora a look on the way – obligingly, her sister shut her eyes briefly, sent her Haki out, then opened her eyes again in surprise.
"Everyone," she said, softly enough that Kuroda-san wouldn't hear. "They're all there." Mai's eyebrows shot up beneath her fringe, and her mouth dropped open.
Really!? She mouthed. Tora rolled her eyes and puffed out her cheeks, and Mai gave her an apologetic look. Of course, her sister's Haki was never wrong.
Once they let themselves into the office, Torao was proven correct – everyone from Naru to Masako had been gathered inside, with three spare seats left for them. Naru stood by the principal's desk, a strange light at his elbow
"This is everyone who was involved with this case." Naru intoned. "All right, let me have a little of your time."
He closed the blinds and turned on the strange light, which slowly blinked on and off.
"Please focus on the light… Please match your breathing to the light… Slowly now … relax yours shoulders … Can you hear yourself breathing? … Inside your mind, please count your breaths ... Tonight, the chair on the second floor of the old schoolhouse will move. Tonight, in the laboratory, in the old schoolhouse…"
Everyone was so absorbed in the light, that when Naru suddenly opened the curtains, they all blinked dazedly or flinched away.
"Very good," Naru said. "Thank you very much."
After that, everybody broke up, with the Taniyama sisters taking off after Naru.
"Did you sort everything out yesterday?" Mai asked.
"Yes."
"Where'd you go?"
"Here and there. I heard you got hurt."
"It wasn't a big deal," Mai said flippantly. Tora cleared her throat pointedly, so Mai backtracked. "I mean, I'm fine now! Say, Naru-chan, what was that earlier?"
"Don't you have to get back to class?"
"Don't deflect us like that," Tora reprimanded. "If you won't answer Mai, then here is a question – how is your hand today? Lin-san, too?"
"We're both fine. However, I understand." Both girls frowned, cocking their heads at Naru. He turned to face Mai fully, and said, "You just want to be stupid."
"Oiya!" Both looked ready to hit him, for that.
"Hold on," Mai shook her head quickly, hand on Tora's shoulder. "There's something I wanted to ask you – did you come back last night?"
"To the old schoolhouse? No. Why?"
"O-oh, no reason! Um, anyway, that shoe cubby that fell on me! It was warm! Is what I wanted to tell you – bye bye!" With that, she turned on her heel and walked briskly back to class.
Naru looked at Tora, who just gave him a confused shrug, bowed briefly, and ran after her sister. What on earth was that about?
"Jin-ya didn't look that much like him, surely?" She asked, confused.
"Mmhmm, I thought he was Naru to begin with, but Naru-chan would never smile like that, you know?"
"Ah. I see." A pause. "You know our classroom is that way, right?"
"Waah!"
After school that day, Mai returned to Naru's van, and found him listening to the recordings they had taken the night before.
"Where's Torao?"
"She had to go to kendo," Mai mumbled, playing with her fingers again. "There's a big competition coming up, so she couldn't really afford to miss any more practice."
"Ah. Which of you set up the microphone on the second floor?"
"I did. The video end came out fine, but we weren't sure if …"
"It was a pretty good job, for you. It picked up some fairly interesting sound."
This fellow!
"Well, thanks, I guess." Mai grumbled, fingers curling into fists.
"You said before that those cubbies were warm?"
"Oh, yes! You said that objects that poltergeists moved had elevated temperatures, right?"
"I'm impressed that you remembered."
"Naru-chan! You – !" Drawing herself up to her full height, Mai's eyes flashed dangerously, and she cocked back a fist
The argument was averted before it could properly start with John's arrival. Naru put them both to work, drawing a circle around a chair in the second classroom, setting up a night-vision camera in front of it, and putting up and signing plywood boards all around the room.
It was late when Tora and Fusao joined them. Mai and John were signing a final piece of paper, over top of the two boards that covered the main doorway, and Mai was in a terrible mood.
"Oi, Naru!" Mai shouted, completely unimpressed. "Why?! Why why why why why why!"
"You'll just have to come tomorrow." The boss returned in a flat tone. Obviously, this was a conversation they had gone over many times already.
"Shibuya-san!" Fusao called. "Haha-ue wanted me to check up on you! She's worried you're not eating enough."
Naru scowled, before stalking off.
"I am fine, thank you. Good night."
"Well, he's in a fine mood," Torao murmured. "Mai, do you need to do anything else?"
"No, we're good to go. I just want to know what I've been doing!"
"Now now, we'll find out tomorrow!" John sweatdropped.
"Ah, well – John-ya, what are you doing now?" Tora asked. "Fusao and I wanted to try out a yakitori-stand in Shibuya, do you want to join us?"
The Australian flushed scarlet. "I – I – I wouldn't want to impose!"
"Impose on what?" Torao frowned, confused. "It's a street stall, and Mai and Fusao need to work on their English. Could you help us?"
John gave a big, gusty sigh, obviously relieved – though over what, Torao couldn't say. "Oh, yes, I'd love to! Lead the way!"
Tora nodded briskly, and gently smacked her sister and best friend on the shoulder. "Go on."
"Torao!" Mai moaned.
"Um, how you do?" Fusao tried, resigned to his fate. "I am Fusao Yasuhara."
"How do you do," John corrected gently. "I am well, thank you! My name is John Brown. Mai-san, how are you?"
Mai repeated the words under her breath, before answering, much more slowly than Fusao. "I ahm w-ellu, John-san. D-do you llike barbeque?"
John was a far more patient conversationalist than Torao, gently correcting context, grammar and pronunciation, and keeping up a wide variety of topics, just to challenge their vocabulary. By the time they had reached the new stand, they had gotten on to the topic of siblings.
"I have one yo-unger sisuter," Mai fumbled. "Um, ah tuwin sisuter, Torao."
"I do not have any sibulingsu," Fusao said fairly cheerfully.
"I have one oruder tuwin sisuter, Mai." Tora said, eyes drifting across the crowd.
John beamed at them. "I have two older sisters," He said. "They are called Sarah and Lucy. I have one younger sister, Dotty. Sarah lives in Osaka with her husband, Ryoji. Lucy lives in Perth, in Western Australia, and Dotty lives in Melbourne, Victoria,."
"Ah, is that where – ssorry, isu th-at where you learning Japanese, John-san?" Mai asked excitedly. "Furom your sisuter?"
"Where you learnt, where you are learning," John corrected.
"Isu th-at where you llearntuh Japanese? Kansaiben?" Mai tried again.
"My brother-in-law, Ryoji, taught me." John nodded. At three blank looks, he tried again. "Giri no ani. Brother-in-law."
At this point, they had reached the stand, and after a quick perusal, placed their orders. With their food in hand, they wandered further down the street, and picked up where they had left off.
"What – sorry, what do they do, John-san?" Fusao asked. "Your sisuters."
"Sarah teaches primary school. Dotty is studying to be an ecologist – she studies plants and animals and how they fit together. Lucy is… How do I put this?"
"Isu she ah ghosuto huntah too?" Torao teased.
"Isu she ahn exocisto?" Mai added.
"Sometimes." John answered. "She is a witch – or so she says. I haven't spoken to her in quite some time, so I don't know what she's doing now."
"EH!?" All three exploded. "REALLY?!"
John laughed awkwardly, but before he could answer, something caught his eye. "Hey, isn't that your office?"
"Offisu?" Mai repeated. Tora, having spotted the bright SPR, pointed.
"Jimusho. Office. D'you think that's Naru's?"
"Let's go and see!" Fusao said excitedly, already moving across the road.
"Wait, we should take him something too!" Mai added. "He won't eat meat, so let's try – umm…"
"Sweets, maybe?" John suggested.
"There's some ningyo-yaki over there!" She agreed cheerfully, pointing.
"There's a dango stand that way!" Fusao added, zipping off.
"John-ya, you get some of the yakisoba here, and I'll go and grab some of that daigaku imo!"
With a whoop, John and the sisters split apart, quickly placing their orders at the stalls, and then regrouping just in front of the SPR office.
"How do we know if anyone is in, though?" John suddenly asked with a small frown.
"Don't worry, he's up there," Torao reassured. "I listened before."
"You… listened?" John asked, as they slowly made their way up the stairs.
Fusao and the sisters exchanged quick glances – Mai shrugged and Fusao dipped his head in a shallow nod.
"It's an old family gift," Torao finally said, everyone pausing on the first landing. "I can … hear a person's spirit. I still don't really call myself a psychic, because I don't think it's true, for me. But so long as there aren't that many people around, or so long as I know someone well and they are near me, I can hear them." Slowly, they started moving once again.
"Wow, that's incredible, Torao-san!" John exclaimed, before turning to her sister. "And you, Mai-san?"
Mai laughed awkwardly. "I should be able to use it, but I've never been very good at it, not like Tora. Ah, here we go!" *knock knock* "Excuse me! Naru, we're coming in!"
Letting themselves in to the office, they found that it was a rather spartan area – a lounge for receiving guests, a desk, a kitchen and a separate office again.
"Shibuya-san!" Fusao called. "Have you eaten today?"
"Naru-ya, you better not be sleeping!" Tora added.
There was a murmur from the adjacent office, the sound of a phone hanging up, and then there was Naru, still in the same clothes as earlier.
"What are all of you doing here?" He asked, surprised.
"John was helping us with our English," Mai answered. "Also, Fusao and Tora wanted to try a new stall out. Here! We didn't know what you might like, so we got you ningyo-yaki, dango, daigaku imo and yakisoba, since you don't like meat."
Naru stared at the presented food.
"Why?" He finally asked.
The sisters rolled their eyes, and together said, "This is what friends do."
"Sorry if we're intruding, Shibuya-san," John added. "But everyone was very adamant. I hope you weren't too busy?"
"… No. It's fine."
"Here, show us the office!" Mai asked cheerfully, thrusting the ningyo-yaki into his arms and bouncing on the balls of her feet. "I've never been in a proper one before!"
"It's only small," Naru started to say, before Fusao interrupted him, handing Naru the bag of dango.
"It has character, Shibuya-san. C'mon, indulge us!"
The tour was only a brief affair, and once it was finished, Naru was strong-armed into letting everyone in to his office to share the treats.
"If this is a bribe," He began, eyeing Mai warily.
Mai pouted, and Tora snorted. "No, Naru-ya. John saw the office when we passed by, and we thought we'd stop in."
There was a chime from Fusao's phone. "Ah, sorry everyone, Hahaue wants me home. John-san, sank you for today! Llet's do it agai-n sometime! Shibuya-san, until next time. Torao, I'll see you on Wednesday."
"Ah, wait, Yasuhara-san," John got out around a mouthful of sweets. "Let me walk you at least part of the way home?" When they'd been practicing their English, they had found out that John's church wasn't too far away from Fusao's apartment.
"Sure! Everyone, see you later!"
When it was just the girls and Naru left, they said, "We can go too, if you want."
Naru gave them a small smirk. "It would be rude of me to kick you out, after you brought me food, and put me up yesterday, too."
The sisters exchanged looks before Mai answered him. "Still, we don't want to make you uncomfortable. It kind of feels like we've done nothing but bully you, you know?"
That startled a snort out of Naru (who seemed just as surprised by the laugh as the sisters). "You haven't, it's fine."
"So, you do this all the time, then?" Mai pressed. "People get you to find out if their place is haunted?"
Naru nodded, testing out the yakisoba. He wrinkled his nose, pushed it back, and tried the daigaku imo instead. Tora snatched up the discarded noodles happily.
"What if there are ghosts? What do you do then?"
"We find a way to help the spirit move on."
"You do? Or Lin-san?"
"Whoever is better suited to the task."
"You know," Mai began casually. "Tora can – "
"No," her sister immediately cut her off.
"But Torao – !"
"We already spoke about this!" Tora hissed. "If you want someone to do the work so badly, you do it!"
There was a fluttering on the edge of her senses. She closed her eyes briefly, got up, and gave her sister a look.
"There's a tout fight – I won't be long. Naru-ya, sorry for this. See you tomorrow." Grabbing both her bag and bokken, Tora slipped out of Naru's window, down the sides of the office, and ducked off a side street.
"… Sorry about that, Naru-chan. Um, I'll let myself out."
She didn't even make it to his office door before he said, "Wait. Torao's gone to stop a fight, right? Stay inside, dummy."
"No, it's ok. You're probably pretty sick of our face, huh? I'm just going to wait out front, anyway."
Naru gave her a look, before picking up a piece of paper. "Do whatever you want. But there are teabags in the kitchen, and I have more food than I know what to do with right now."
She stared at him for a moment, eyes blown wide, before they softened. "You aren't so narcissistic after all," She murmured, before going out and making two cups of tea. Waiting for it to steep, Mai had a quick flick through the books Naru kept on the office shelves, and then returned to the office.
"You only had English tea, and no milk, so I figured you must like it pretty strong," She shrugged, handing Naru a cup. "What are you doing?"
"Research. Another case came across the desk while I've been at your school."
"Eh, really? That's pretty cool. Tell me about it?"
Still reading his research, Naru gave her the rundown of the possible case, explaining the process of how they picked which cases to take or drop.
"… Hey, Naru?"
"Hn?"
"Can… can someone without psychic abilities be a ghost hunter?"
He put down his research, looking at Mai with an unreadable expression. "Yes. But they would have to be very scientific in their approach and would need to have someone around who could do exorcisms."
Mai forced a giggle, trying to hide how much that sentence meant to her. "Do you know many exorcisms, then, Naru-chan?"
"There are some that even a person without abilities can do," He answered.
Her hands were shaking. Why are these shaking?
"Ah, I see. … Naru-chan, I better go. See you tomorrow!" Mai brushed off her skirt, downed what remained of her tea, and gathered up Naru's empty cup as well. This time she made it to the door of Naru's office before he called after her again.
"Mai?"
"Yes~?" With a fake smile plastered on to her face, Mai turned around.
"Does your school allow you to have a job?"
"Of course – why?"
"…It's just me and Lin here. We could use another hand with the office work. If you wanted a job, that is."
What's this? All of me is shaking, now. Why?
"Is this charity?" She whispered through numb lips. "Because you found out we were orphans?"
"No," Naru glared. "You and your sister have been a big help in this case. And we really do need someone else to help file everything. But if you don't want the job, that's fine – I'll find someone else."
Mai swallowed, eyes wet. "Well. If you're sure you don't mind putting up with me."
Naru's lips twitched slightly. "It is fine. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah." She cleared her throat roughly, and made for the kitchen once again. "Good night, Naru. See you tomorrow."
Translations:
Aneue/ane-ue – archaic version of neesan, ie older sister
Giri no ani – older brother-in-law. Giri no otouto is younger brother-in-law.
Yakitori – chicken skewers
Ningyo-yaki – doll cakes, a pancake like batter filled with anko (red bean paste)
Dango – grilled rice flour dumplings coated with soy sauce.
Yakisoba – egg noodles and vegetable stirfry
Daigaku imo – deep fried and sugar coated sweet potatoes
So John originally assumed that Torao and Fusao are a couple, and didn't want to "intrude" on a date, the cutie. For anyone who was curious, yes, the research for this chapter made me incredibly hungry! And for those wondering why Mai and Tora keep blueing over the whole medium thing, stay tuned!