GH: THE MISSING ARCHIVES II

Thank you, everyone, for your wonderful support.

I hope I can live up to your expectations. I will do my very best. Please enjoy this chapter.


DISCLAIMER: I don't own any of the characters from Ghost Hunt, or any concept from the games mentioned before.

File 001: Can you see me in the dark? #3

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

I opened my eyes, feeling a little dejected. My body was still in pain, and my head felt as if it was about to burst. I was beginning to believe that maybe Ayako was right, and I had really caught a cold. From all times to fall ill, I had to choose the middle of a case.

I turned my face to the person who had greeted me, and I found Kei looking at me sympathetically. He was sitting in front of me with several cameras scattered around him. The one he was currently working at was dismantled into pieces and he was poking into it with a pointed screwdriver.

"Morning…" I replied, pushing myself up. The heavy blanket slid down my shoulders and felt to the ground with a soft thud. I let out a sigh and leaned down to pick it. To my surprise, it wasn't a blanket, as I had originally thought, but instead a heavy black coat.

"That's Shibuya's…" Kei said, giving me a smug smile. "You fell asleep here yesterday. We thought about carrying you to the room, but he said he didn't want to move you, since it might wake you up. His excuse was that you could be having one of your useful dreams, but honestly, he just wanted to let you sleep."

That was a surprise. Well, Naru wasn't such a bad person, so maybe he did want to rest.

"Uh… What time is it?"

"11: 35 AM," Kei replied, returning to his work with the cameras.

"Eh? It's almost noon, why didn't you wake me?"

I stood up with a quick jump. But that was a bad decision. The room began to spin around me and heaved, feeling like I was going to throw up.

"Woah… easy!"

I was fighting the urge to vomit, when I felt someone grabbing my arms in a firm grip.

"Kei-san, please contact Matzusaki-san. We need her here."

Kei put down his work and rushed to his computer. I guessed that the intercoms were online, and he was calling her through the general line.

"N-Naru?" I said, shocked. I hadn't realized that my legs had buckled, and I was on my way to the ground, until Naru had stopped my fall.

"Idiot, don't move so suddenly," he scolded. "especially if you are sick. It is common sense."

Well, sorry for not having common sense, I thought. I couldn't say much, since another wave of nausea made me stagger. Why was my head hurting so much?

"S-sorry?" I said weakly, instead.

"How long have you been feeling ill?"

"Eh? Well, I am not…"

"Mai…" Naru chided. His voice was clearly saying that he was in no mood for playing.

I let out a defeated sigh. He helped me to the couch and sat me down slowly.

"I began feeling sluggish yesterday. I thought it was just fatigue, so I didn't give it much importance."

"Yesterday? Uh… were you sick before we arrived in Miyashina?"

"Eh? Sick? No, but I was feeling pretty exhausted, so I thought it was just that."

Naru looked pensive. For a moment I thought he would scold me again, but before he said anything, the door burst open and Ayako rushed in, followed by Aki.

"What happened? Kei told me it was an emergency," she said, looking around.

She looked slightly surprised to see me lying on the couch, with Naru crouched by my side, and I saw her eyes shine in understanding.

"Matsuzaki-san," Naru said, standing up. "Please take a look at, Mai."

Ayako's medical examination took several minutes. In general, it was like any control exam: Ayako took my temperature, my blood pressure, my pulse, checked my eyes, my throat, etc. While all this was going on, Naru stood aside, silently. His eyes traced every of Ayako's movements as he listened to her words.

"Well, she has no fever…" Ayako said. She turned to Aki, who was taking my pressure. "How is her blood pressure?"

"A little lower than normal, saturation is okay," Aki replied.

"Uh, it doesn't look like she has a cold."

"Then what is it?" Naru asked, impatiently.

"I am not sure," Ayako sighed. "Mai, I need you to tell me, sincerely, how you feel."

I sighed. The cat was out of the bag, so trying to run was of no use anymore.

"Other than the headache, the nausea and the muscle cramps. I think I am okay…" I replied. "Really, you are making a big deal out of it."

"What kind of headache? Like a migraine?"

I nodded.

"Uhm, it might be psychosomatic," Ayako said pensively. "You said you had been under a lot of stress recently. It isn't rare for people to fall ill under that situation."

"What do you suggest?" Naru asked.

"Well, rest should do. I don't think she should be running around," Ayako replied. "I can drop by the local pharmacy and get her something for the pain and the nausea, but if it results from fatigue, the only thing I can come up to fix it is proper rest."

In other words. She wanted me on bed arrest. Naru would hate that.

"I understand. Mai, you will remain in bed for the rest of the case, then."

"Eh? Wait, Naru…" I began.

"Ehm, Shibuya-san?" Kei said timidly. "With all due respect, but if you're going to put Mai under bed arrest, you might want to consider leaving someone to watch over her. The spirit of this case is a little unpredictable, and knowing Mai's background history, we don't know if she might get herself tangled in a dangerous situation…"

"So you are offering to stay with her?" Naru said stoically, but I could swear the temperature of the room had dropped several degrees.

"Eh? No, no… that's not what I was implying," Kei replied quickly. He waved his hands and smiled nervously. "It doesn't have to be me, Rei or anyone else could do it… I am just saying it would be advisable, considering Mai's history with spirits."

There was a brief- and cold- pause.

"I understand," Naru finally said. "If that's the case, Mai will remain in Base for the rest of the case. That way Lin or I can watch over her."

I figured that made sense. Ayako and Aki had been tasked with protecting the Shinzo family along with John; that left Rei, Kei, and Bou-san as his primary exorcist team. There was no way that Naru would sacrifice one of them as my personal spiritual bodyguard.

"I understand why you would suggest that," Ayako said, crossing her arms. "But no matter how you look at it, this isn't a suitable place for a sick person, Naru."

Base was in a small room and with all the equipment set-up, there wasn't much space left. Frankly, I didn't think I needed anyone to watch over me, especially if I was most likely sleeping all the time, but I knew better than to argue with Naru when he'd made up his mind about something.

"I can sleep on the couch…" I offered, "or maybe improvise a futon in some corner."

"Those are not conditions…"

"I understand your concerns, Matzusaki-san," Naru said, "but between sacrificing some comfort or taking the risk of the ghost targeting Mai when she's not in condition to fight back, I believe the decision is obvious."

No one could fight that logic.

That's how Base became my new bedroom for the following days. If I wasn't sleeping, I would try to help in minor tasks that required little to no effort, but Naru would always send me back to bed. There weren't many, and I just ended up sleeping most of the time. My condition didn't improve, however. After two days of ´´rest´´, I was feeling as bad, if not worse, as the first day. My dreams weren't helping either. There were no signs of Gene or the butterfly in them, only the same scene of me in the middle of the forest and those annoying footsteps surrounding me. The cameras kept breaking down, and Bou-san and the other had yet to exorcise the spirit, but on the bright side, according to Ayako, the Shinzo's were finally able to rest properly through the night and that was improving their overall health.

"Ah, damn… I don't know what keeps frying these cameras," Kei complained. He was spending more time fixing the video recorders than helping with the exorcism now. "It's the first time I stumble with a ghost that breaks down the equipment. If it isn't the camera, it's the audio recorder or the power bank. Seriously… we are lucky I know how to fix these stuff or we would have run out of equipment long ago."

"What do you want? An award cookie?" Rei said. She was delivering the temperature charts to Lin. Since I was out of commission, she had kindly accepted to do my work.

The rest of the gang was out on guard duty or ghost-patrolling.

"Don't act like you're annoyed. We both know you love dismantling things…"

"I do, but toasting the VCR of the camera is just cruel."

"I thought you said fried circuits were your jam," I whispered, putting down the teapot. After a lot of begging, I had persuaded Naru to let me do the ´Tea Duty´. I had a feeling that it wasn't because of my begging that he'd agreed, but rather because he needed his tea.

"Not this kind of circuit…" Kei sighed.

"My apologies, if we weren't so limited with the equipment, we wouldn't need to do this," Lin said, turning in his chair.

"Don't apologise to him. He is enjoying himself, even if he says otherwise."

"Why did they malfunction, anyway?" Yasuhara asked curiously.

"Power fluctuations, most likely," Kei replied. "It caused de traces in the circuit boards to get damaged. It is an easy repair, but man… I am literally repairing this every day now. That ghost is becoming expensive."

"The cameras are insured, so that's not a big problem," Naru said. He was in a bad mood. This ghost was starting to irritate him, I could tell by the frown on his face and the icy aura he was emanating. I set his tea on the table and returned to my spot on the couch. The pain in my muscles barely let me move freely, and I could tell that Naru had noticed my stiffness.

The door of the room opened again and Bou-san and John stepped into the room, looking dejected.

"That's not a joyous face," Kei said. "No luck?"

"No, the spirit won't come out. Call me crazy, but it is as if this thing was smart and knew exactly what we plan to do," Bou-San said. "Every time we start the ritual, it vanishes."

"We lose it almost as soon as we are to start," John said, looking at Naru.

"This case was a lot more complicated than we thought, huh?" Yasuhara said. "Equipment malfunction, sneaking spirits…"

"Well, no one expected a running ghost with the ability to cook my circuits. Auch…" Kei said, waving his hand.

Yasuhara smiled sadly.

"There must be something we aren't seeing," Naru said. There was a hint of frustration in his voice. "the spirit is interested in the Shinzo. Otherwise, the activity wouldn't have moved to this house. The question is why? What's about the Shinzo that the spirit likes so much?"

Everyone seemed quiet and lost in their thoughts. The only sound was Kei's work on the camera.

"How about doing a recap?" Yasuhara suggested. "maybe we can come up with something as we throw out ideas. It has worked before."

"I guess we lose nothing trying," Rei said, looking at Lin, and he nodded. "hit me with your best shot, Yasuhara."

"Okay, so…" Yasuhara said, pulling out his folder. "We know that there are several versions of the haunting. Everyone in town seems to have experienced the same things, but the story they tell is different. The top three stories are: a fox spirit possesses anyone who steps into the house and drives them crazy; the ghost of a suicide victim who forces the person to commit suicide as well, and a vengeful spirit from the Meiji period looking for her lost baby."

I was listening to Yasuhara as my body became a little numb. Three different stories, and none of them had anything in common.

"That's odd…" I whispered.

"Mai-chan?" John mumbled. "Did you say something?"

"Uh, stories like these are usually passed down verbally, so variations are bound to happen over time. However, even if the narrative or motifs of a story change, the key line usually remains more or less untouched." I said, ignoring the headache that was making me dizzy again. I should probably take another pill."Let's look at any urban legend, kuchisake onna, for example. Depending of the city or neighborhood you ask, they might tell you she was an a adulterous woman, a victim of a bad surgical procedure or a casualty of a case of envy because of her beauty. The origin of the haunting varies, but at the end the story remains more or less untouched. She's a woman with a slithered mouth that would harm you if you answer her questions wrongly."

Everyone in the room, including Naru, seemed to pay me attention, but I was feeling too sick to care or other feeling embarrassed. My last report for school had actually elaborated on that phenomenon, so most of the information was still fresh in my mind.

"In other words, even if the accessory details of a tale changes, the main plot will always survive. No matter how much degeneration the tale suffers," I explained. "Isn't it odd, that despite focusing on one haunting, the three stories are too different?"

There were some hums.

"Mai might be onto something," Naru said. "Following that line of thought, it is suspicious that three completely different stories would be associated with one single haunting. Of course, that could be explained if we were having multiple hauntings at the same time ."

Naru crossed his arms and pacing around. He finally stopped in front of the board and stared at the notes we had suck on to it.

"But since all the people that were interviewed have described the exact type of haunting, I would rule out that option. That only leaves us one alternative. We are being deceived…"

"You think the townspeople people are making up the stories to hide the real one?" Bou-san asked, crossing his arms, too. "Why would they do that?"

"Why, indeed…" Naru said, rubbing his chin. "Mai, you are the one studying this. What do you think about it?"

I pushed myself up and John, who was closer, moved to give me support, as I bit down on my lip so that I could bear with the dizziness. Naru was asking my opinion about was surely something new.

"Me?"

"Well, you're our resident folklorist in the making, right? It makes sense to ask your opinion," Kei said, putting down his screwdriver with a soft metallic sound.

"What do you want me to say?" I asked, looking at Naru.

"You have seen this phenomenon before. Several story versions linked to one common theme," Naru said. For the first time, he didn't seem to be impatient, nor did he look like he was going to comment on my stupidity. Part of me felt happy, thinking that maybe Naru was starting to consider me smart, the other part just told me that perhaps he was being soft with me because I was sick. "What's your opinion about these stories?"

I thought about it for a moment before answering. My brain drifted, since the headache wasn't helping, but I did my best to clear up my thoughts and shuffle through the things I knew.

"It makes no sense," I answered. "Variations in stories always have a common thread, as I already told you. That thread usually comes from stories that date back years, or from events that took place at the location. People appropriate that information and turn it into fantasy stories. This is how legends are born. Now, based on what Yasuhara has told me, those three stories are so random that they are ridiculous. "

"Care to elaborate your point?" Naru insisted.

It was kind of gratifying that Naru showed so much interest in my point of view, but I wished that his interest had appeared when I didn't feel like I was going to throw up just by looking up.

"The fox spirit tale, for example. Yokai stories are common in rural areas. Fox spirits are popular tricksters, so their relation to paranormal events is easy to propose. However, they are more common when there's a background of general cult to them. If a place doesn't dwell in the kitsune mythos then, why would there be a story about it? There is not even an Inari Shrine here, or any other story about foxes, is it?"

"Nope, that's the only one," Yasuhara said, looking through his files.

"See my point? Why ony one?" Mai shrugged. "The suicide story, Naru already explained it. How can there be a story about a death, when the property has never seen one? I guess the only one I can't discredit now is the Meiji period lady, but even so… I see no motivation in the story. The ghost searches for her baby. Yeah…but why? What does she do to those who see her? The story feels incomplete. It just my thoughts, but either only one of the stories is real and rest are fake, or the three are fake."

My friends pondered my words for a while, then Bou-san rubbed my back with a grin.

"When did our little foolish Mai become such an acknowledgeable person, huh? My baby girl is grown up."

I tried to roll my eyes, but that only made me dizzier.

"But telling us fake stories would make things difficult; it wouldn't help us exorcise the spirit." John said concerned.

"Unless… "Kei said, putting down the camera and turning to his sister.

"Unless they don't want us to exorcise it…" Rei said.

"That wouldn't make sense. Why would they hire us if they didn't want the spirit gone?" Bou-san said.

"I don't want to sound cynic, but… did any other paranormal research teams come here before us?" Kei asked.

"Not that Shinzo-san ever informed us of," Lin replied. "Why?"

"Uhmm… I might be being a paranoid, but do you guys remember the Fudo case?"

"Fudo?" Bou-san asked.

"That was the first case we worked together," Lin said.

"How is it relevant?" Naru asked.

"Ashiya Doman sent his most powerful pupils to the manor under the guise of a wanting them to cleanse the place," Kei said, playing with the screwdriver in his fingers. "The real reason was to use them in the kuon ritual…"

"You mean…" Bou-san said with wide eyes.

"They might have lured us here with a case," Rei sighed. She crossed her arms and then looked at me. "Kei and I have been pondering this for a while now, but since we had no evidence, we didn't think of bringing it up."

"That's crazy, you're causing an entire town of bringing us here for what? Feeding a ghoul?" Bou-san said.

"Mai started feeling sick after the activity began in the first day," Kei said, and I looked up in surprise. "Her health has deteriorated rapidly ever since, and oddly enough, the Shinzo seemed to have made a recovery."

"Matzusaki-san said it was because they were finally getting some sleep." John said.

"Perhaps…" Kei sighed. "Like I said, we might be being cynic, but we've been wondering wether we were dealing with something a little stronger than a ghost."

"We didn't originally think it would involve the townspeople; this idea just came up as we said that those stories could be fake." Rei sighed. "but it is true that we thought Mai's sudden disease was a little fishy.

"Ah…" I said suddenly. "That is why you told Naru not to leave me alone in my room…"

Kei snickered. He'd earned Naru's glare that day.

"Yeah, we weren't sure, since diseases didn't seem like something the affected people were talking about, but we knew better than to take chances. If there was someone with you, it was less likely for the ghost to affect you, so we expected you to improve, however…"

"You didn't, so that meant our reasoning was flawed. That's why we didn't bring the subject up." Rei replied. "Had it been otherwise, we would have reported it immediately."

Naru was lost in thought. His blue eyes seemed to be lost in the words written on the board, but I was sure that he wasn't reading them at all.

"Yasuhara-san…" he finally said.

"Yes?"

"How well do you consider your researching skills?"

"I would say pretty good, why?"

"If Kei-san and Rei-san are right, there is a lot of information that has been kept from us, and it is safe to say that they won't be answering us directly. We might have to use other methods to find out what we need."

"I see," Yasuhara said. "Don't worry, boss. I have a couple tricks under my sleeve."

"Then, I will leave that to you. See if there's anything off about Miyashina and check if there have been any disappearances in the area. Particularly, paranormal researchers."

"Ok…"

"Ah… this is crazy…" Bou-san said, rubbing his face.

"But… if this was true, we might be at high risk," John said, concerned. "Shibuya-san, what should we do?"

Naru crossed his arms in annoyance. He wasn't used to not knowing what to do, and that irritated him.

"We continue as we are," he finally said.

ooo OOO ooo

Someone was stroking my head. It was a firm hand, but with a soft and affectionate touch that made me feel a little more secure. I opened my eyes and instead of meeting the dim bluish light from the monitors and Lin's soft clicking sound, what I found was darkness. The grass brushed my skin, tickling me.

"Where am I?"

The answer to my question came as a soft clink. I looked around and there it was, glowing softly in the dark. A blue butterfly.

"Chou-san!" I said with a smile.

Unlike Gene, the butterfly it wouldn't answer my greeting with words, but it had its own why to greet me and I smiled when it flew around me, caressing me with his pale blue light. I looked around and felt a little disappointed. Apparently Gene wouldn't be coming to help me today either.

"I guess it is just us, Chou-san." I smiled faintly.

The butterfly flew around me and even though it couldn't speak; I thought it was telling me to follow. The forest was dark and damp. Had it not been for the butterfly's light, it would have been impossible for me to walk without tripping and falling somewhere. Something that I suddenly noticed and that also alerted me was the silence. Although it was a dream, it was strange that the forest was so quiet; I didn't hear crickets; I didn't even hear the wind blowing through the treetops. The only thing I heard was my steps on the wet moss that covered the ground.

"Where are we going?" I whispered.

Suddenly I felt the fluffy ground come to an end, and instead I found myself standing at the foot of a stone staircase. The steps were covered in grass, and it was obvious that no one had walked on them in a long time. There were small stone lamps on either side of the steps; exposure to the environment and time destroyed some, but others remained standing.

The butterfly flew up the stairs, and as it passed, the lamps lit with a small blue light and followed it closely.

"A shrine?" I said looking around me.

It was a shrine. The building was wrecked by time, but I could still distinguish some parts of the shrine between the plants. It was a small shrine, and it was clear that it had been forgotten over the years. The emptiness and abandonment made me feel sad and alone.

"Mai…"

I knew that voice.

"Gene!" I smiled. "It's been a while!"

Gene smiled at me, but his smile disappeared soon after.

"Mai, you're in danger."

"Danger? From what?"

"It has been protecting you," Gene said. I saw his eyes wander to the blue butterfly that fluttered close behind me. "But the spirit has grown stronger. The butterfly can't hide you for too long."

"Uh? Who's the spirit?"

"It's old… very old," Gene answered. "It owns this place. You must wake up, Mai. Listen… you…"

I couldn't hear the last thing Gene said. Suddenly a high-pitched screech echoed through the woods, and I had to cover . I could feel the voice resonate with my body, and the world began to spin around me. I fell to my knees on the forest floor, feeling as if my head was about to explode, I could hear footsteps running around and the feeling of something watching me - no, preying at me- sent panic to my gut. For a second, I perceived a bluish glow above me, but its glow faded away as the screeches grew louder.

"Naru ..." I cried, silently. "Naru ... help me!"


I have received some messages telling me that they ship Mai x Kei lol. I find that really funny. Don't get me wrong, I am fully Mai x Naru, but sometimes we need a third party to stir up things.

Do you guys have any other ships? Mai ships Lin x Rei, but who knows ;P