Chapter 7 – They Should Have Known Better

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt, if I did the series would never have ended and Mai and Naru would have little paranormal grandbabies for Martin and Luella running around by now.

Author's Note: So I seemed to have channeled Mai a little TOO much. I tripped over one of my cats and fell down the stairs and totally sprained my wrist so typing is a bit slow right now. I need someone to just take dictation for me, lol. And I hit over a thousand views, I can't believe it. Thank you so much for everyone who is reading and those who are reviewing as well. =) Edited: 9/27


While Naru made notations in his little black notebook, Mai turned to look at Kuroda who deigned to leave when the group of spiritualists left to explore the building more and said to her quietly, "Kuroda-san, when I pull up the footage from the secondary cameras on the second floor, as well as the one inside this room for the time surrounding Ayako's imprisonment in that empty classroom, what do you believe I will find?" Mai ceased her questioning when the furniture in the room surrounding them began to tremble, and she knew Kuroda was close to a breaking point.

Kuroda coldly watched Mai, uncertain what she should say that might help her cause, when the other girl started speaking again, "Kuroda-san, I wasn't lying to you when I said I believe you have abilities, I just don't believe that they are what you think they are." Mai smiled gently at her class rep in an attempt to calm her some, and said, "Please go home and relax for the rest of today, I know you must have expended a great deal of energy while being upset. I know of a very kind and patient woman, who I am going to contact on your behalf, ok? Please trust that Naru and I are not your enemies, but we want to see you healthy, happy and successful just like we are."

While Mai was speaking Kuroda's tense face slowly relaxed and her shoulders slumped as she admitted, "I am very tired, I just don't know why." Mai smiled at Kuroda with a sympathetic look on her face and said, "It's understandable Kuroda-san, and it's easy to misunderstand psychic gifts without having outside input to test you properly. They're all diverse and come in different blends just like tea leaves," Mai giggled a bit at this comparison, but went on, "On Monday morning when we can assemble everyone who has been involved here during school hours we will be conducting an experiment in regards to the building here. That should help to give you some answers about your own abilities, ok? But for now go home and take a nap, or do something fun to relax your mind."

As Mai finished speaking, Naru looks up from his notetaking and says, "Why don't you head out and walk Kuroda-san off campus and buy us some lunch while you're out? After the morning we have had so far, I desperately need large quantities of tea. I can call and make the initial contact with Igarashi-sensei for you using SPR as a bridge, and I also need to contact Lin for an update while all of the new psychics are checking out the area on their own."

Mai nodded at her boss in agreement, then angling her body to look at Kuroda said, "Let's go? We're on your side Kuroda-san you should go and get some rest until Monday, as the test will definitely sap your energy. If we wanted to expose you, there is plenty of evidence with our back up devices if that was our intention, and if you are still wondering how I know all of this? Remember, I told you I am a psychic, and I have what Naru calls animal instincts, post-cognitive and sometimes precognitive visions as well on top of being a medium, and a few other little skills. I know what happened and why you did it because I saw everything before it happened, and I do really want to see you get the right help to develop the gifts you have. When that happens, Kuroda-san then I believe you could be a real asset to us, or another company of spiritualists in our industry," Mai finally paused for a breath and looked to Kuroda for acceptance and when she receives it, Mai says, "You head out, I have an idea to pass on to Naru, and I'll catch up."

Kuroda, still reeling from the information her classmate had just revealed slowly made her way outside the building to wait for Mai. Mai crossed over to Naru, who looked at her in question and she just shook her head at him and said, "Just this," before stooping down to his level and giving him a fleeting kiss on the corner of his mouth. Mai then gave the boy genius a smile that took his breath away, before leaving the room to go join Kuroda.

Naru's first phone call was to Lin to check the progress of the search for Gene's body. Lin informed Naru that all of the search and rescue companies and diving experts had finally arrived to the designated location and that they were going to conduct a meeting with him shortly to discuss particulars of how they would conduct the search. Satisfied with the news that they would begin the next day even though it was a Sunday, Naru hung up and left Lin to manage everything.

The second phone call wasn't as simple, since he was reaching out to someone he had met, but technically had not met yet. While waiting for an assistant to connect him with Igarashi-sensei he pondered the best way to make the request that they take Kuroda on as a student and decided straightforward would probably be the most likely approach to succeed. A voice he remembered well at the other end of the line cut off his thoughts, "Hello, this is Igarashi, how might I assist you?"

"Ah, Igarashi-sensei, my name is Kazuya Shibuya and I am the owner and CEO or Shibuya Psychic Research located in the Dogenzaka neighborhood. I was referred by the British section of the Society of Psychical Research when I inquired for someone of your expertise in the area," Naru told the kindly older woman, and she responded a little taken aback, "Oh my, I had no idea I had a reputation that would reach to such distinguished experts in our field! I really hope that with such a sterling recommendation I truly can assist you young man. What is it exactly that I can do to help? Igarashi-sensei asked and was filled in quickly by Naru about the nature of his request concerning Kuroda and her need for training.

After Naru finished, there was a moment of silence from the other speaker on the phone before she continued, "So, you're planning to conduct an autosuggestion session to test this Kuroda-san's unconscious abilities? The girl thinks she is a medium but on the recommendation of an unknown psychic and medium you believe instead she has enough PK to create poltergeists?" Igarashi-sensei sounded skeptical, and Naru sighed inaudibly before taking steps to reassure her.

"The unknown psychic and medium is skilled on a level the same as the late Eugene Davis, who is in fact her spirit guide, and she is quite familiar with the signs of PK since she is engaged to the other twin, Dr. Oliver Davis, although I as her employer am the only one aware of this fact at the moment," he responded and when he heard an involuntary intake of breath from Igarashi-sensei he went on, "After the test is complete and we put this case to rest, and as long as you are amenable to taking Kuroda-san on as a student Taniyama-san will be the one to contact you further and I am positive you will be pleased by her professionalism and knowledge."

"Very well, Shibuya-sensei, I will be awaiting the call from your associate regarding Kuroda-san's test results, and to arrange a formal introduction for apprenticeship. I look forward to a successful and fruitful working relationship with your firm," the elder spiritualist said and ended the phone call.

Naru pinched the bridge of his nose, his head hurting slightly from lack of tea and Mai, well mostly Mai and he looked around the base noticing that he was still auspiciously alone and he briefly wondered what mischief the others might be getting into, when he heard several sets of footsteps making their way towards the base room. The principal came into the room along with what appeared to be another teacher from the school together with the shrine maiden, who was dressed in the traditional garb of the miko.

Ayako set up her altar in the front hallway of the old school building and began to perform a traditional Shinto exorcism, a Norito, under the watchful eyes of her earlier companions, plus the monk, priest and ghost hunter. Ayako was the picture of grace as she performed the sacred rituals, a slender wooden stick attached with white fluttering strips of paper that caught the currents of air as she serenely wove it through the nine cuts and implores the gods for guidance and protection. After finishing her ritual she said, "Now there should be nothing to worry about, our work here is finished," and the principal smiled at the priestess in gratitude for all of her hard work and invited her to join him and the other teacher for a celebratory dinner.

Ayako politely declined and said, "It's best to check over things right after the exorcism is completed, and stay vigilant for the next 12 hours," she said in a professional manner completely at odds with the attitude she portrayed when there were no clients nearby.

"Of course, you are a professional after all," the principal politely admitted, "well, did anyone eat lunch yet? How about we all go out and eat lunch?" The moment the principal made his suggestion there was a loud creaking sound from the floor above them followed by a piercing high-pitched scream from the second-floor classroom on the west side of the school, proceeded by a muted thud from outside. Suddenly, John shouted, "Hara-san! Hara-san fell from the second floor," the young blonde priest exclaimed and ran outside to the west side of the building too look for the medium. Ayako followed behind John quickly to perform triage while the monk called for an ambulance to take Masako to the nearest hospital for a complete medical check-up.

In the midst of Ayako's perusal of the wounds, Mai arrives back at the old school building with bags filled with bento boxes and drinks for lunch, but she drops them and immediately rushes over to assist Ayako in any way she can. She then looks over at Naru with an annoyed glance before thinking to him, "Didn't we specifically tell them to be careful and stay away from the extremely fragile walls to prevent this?" He nodded at her, hearing her unspoken question clearly in his head and rolled his eyes so only Mai could see before directing his attention to Masako.

"Hara-san, when you fell out of the building, did you experience any sensations of being pushed, or any signs that there was an entity nearby that might have caused you to fall out of the building," Naru asked in an even tone to attempt to hide his annoyance.

Masako shuddered delicately under his attention and said in a piteous voice, "Oh no, there is no spirit here. It was my own carelessness not to heed your warning about the structural integrity of the building, and I paused to steady myself against the wall and suddenly found myself airborne. Oh, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't come to find me right away, Kazuya."

Mai snickered into her hand at the obviousness of the other medium in her attempt to gain Naru's attention and said, "Ah, actually Masako I think you must have hit your head pretty hard, John was the first I saw arrive at your side as I was returning to the school from gathering lunch supplies," Mai said giving Masako a syrupy sweet smile. "In fact, I think Naru was the last one to arrive with the exception of the high school principal and teacher. Now, stay still like Dr. Matsuzaki told you to until the ambulance arrives," Mai ordered the other girl, and with Mai addressing Ayako as Dr. Matsuzaki earned her a sharp glance from the miko, who had not yet revealed this fact about herself to anyone assembled.

Exhausted from her fall, and the unsuccessful preening before the handsome ghost hunter, Masako finally fell prey to fatigue just before the ambulance arrived. Ayako directed the ambulance to a Matsuzaki family hospital, and gave the technicians her report to relay to the doctors at the hospital and instructed them to call her if there was any need. The prognosis was good though she decided, and maybe it would give the snotty medium a little humility when she realized that the fall was preventable if only she had listened to Shibuya-san's advice about the buildings safety. Ayako shook her head and went to re-join the rest of the spiritualists in front of the building where they were finally eating the bento boxes Mai had brought back earlier. The atmosphere she found was slightly tense as the apostate monk argued energetically with the young high school girl about the cause of the fall.

"I still agree with Masako, there is no spirit here. She even admitted she was careless! Now she has upset Sensei, who I just managed to convince of Naru's professionalism! If there was a spirit here, my spirit guide would have given me a vision concerning the experiences that would be causing them not to move on. I do have a theory, well two, but it's still early and we need more empirical evidence to support either," she finished glowering at the monk and leaned tiredly against Naru, her strength currently sapped.

Takigawa nearly sneered as he said, "Well kids, care to enlighten us?"

Naru shook his head and replied, "I think it best if the rest of you continue to act autonomously, and allow us to collect the data we need to prove or disprove Mai's hypothesis before we allow any perceptions you might get from our conjectures to color your experiences. I will admit that the most likely explanation is probably a combination of the two suggestions Mai has made regarding cause thus far," he smirked at the monk before standing up and gripping Mai's hand he pulled her up with him so they could return to the interior of the building to check on their camera feeds.

Not quite ready to be ignored, the monk followed the two teenagers back into their base in the old school building to continue the debate, when Mai paused in front of one of the cameras in a classroom upstairs and said, "Naru, we need to review the footage from the science lab on the east side of the second-floor to see who may have been in the room," she pointed at the screen capturing the material from that room and stated, "There's a chair in the middle of the room but it wasn't there yesterday. There were no chairs in that area at all, and this could provide solid evidence of poltergeist activity," she explained to the others assembled behind them as Naru rewound the recording to check for any tampering.

Naru nodded seriously as they viewed the tape and the chair clearly moved on its own. In front of the blackboard, a dusty chair suddenly started moving little by little, until it reached the middle of the room and moved nearly fifty centimeters. Naru gave Mai a slightly puzzled expression and said, "So the equipment should be responding if this were a poltergeist, but the thermography is showing no heat signatures attached to the chair or room at all. Mai, you know that doesn't rule out a poltergeist but it does make it less likely," he admitted glancing over at his assistant.

John turned towards and asked, "Aren't there other conditions that would categorize this as a poltergeist? I think that Mai is right and there is a good change we could be dealing with a poltergeist," John smiled gently towards Naru.

Naru smiled slightly, "Tisane." E. Tisane, a French officer, classified poltergeists and there are nine categories in total. Explosions, opening and closing of doors, noises, knocking . . . Out of the nine conditions, three occurred here: a door closing by itself, a moving object, and a shattered window. So far that isn't enough to qualify this as a poltergeist haunting, which is why we will continue to amass data to prove or disprove such an assumption scientifically."

Takigawa looked over at Naru with a type of awe and asked, "Where did you learn all the science mumbo jumbo, boy wonder? Are you also a fan of Dr. Oliver Davis? In his initial treatise he discusses the fact that paranormal research is so difficult to study that it must be treated, first and foremost, as science in order to gain credibility using analytic technology like cameras, and microphones."

Mai squealed in genuine delight as she heard the monk relate the purpose behind all of Naru's gadgets and gizmos and beamed as she said, "Bou-san, you're a Dr. Davis fanboy! You're right we definitely ascribe to the same thought process you just described from his book, so surely you understand why we have all these toys as you called them this morning."

Takigawa had the grace to look ashamed and admitted, "Fair enough, I just would never have assumed such young investigators would be so serious and so knowledgeable about the methods formulated by one of the great minds in our industry. I apologize whole heartedly to you both," he said and bowed to the teenagers and then also turned to the priest and shrine maiden as well to say, "I hope we can all work together peacefully and with harmony from now on and I will be more open-minded," he finished his speech and looked sheepishly at the priestess in particular.

The miko sighed in frustration and responded, "I'm guilty of that too Bou-san, and I admit I must have failed in my exorcism attempt and for that I humbly apologize to you all myself," she said and bowed much like the monk had done moments ago.

Naru and Mai exchanged a surprised glance as the elder spiritualists showed their friendlier sides much earlier than they had in the AVE, and he nodded at them both before referring to the data he had been compiling while they were speaking, "As of right now there have been no responses to the equipment, there have been no temperature declines, no ion deviations, and no electromagnetic wave abnormalities. All of the data appear normal to what should be expected in a derelict building of this condition. This is why Mai and I will stay here all night monitoring the building from the SPR van for any discrepancies. We have some alternative avenues that we can check on while the rest of the building is quiet, but the rest of you should go get some rest for now. Mai and I will take turns watching the monitors, it's a shame my other assistant was unable to be with us, or we could split into three shifts instead of two."

John perked up at the mention of a third SPR member and asked, "So you mean to tell me there are more of you normally, mate?" Naru nodded at John and said, "Lin-san has been my assistant longer than Mai by several years, but the two have established a good working relationship over time," he grinned at Mai with mischief lit by an inside joke in his sapphire blue eyes.

John looked confused at the term years, but figured he was misunderstanding something in the Tokyo dialect of Japanese he was trying to use with everyone and said, "Well, mate if he's a nice as you two I hope we get to meet him soon," the priest smiled shyly at Mai and Naru, very grateful at the secret pact as English speakers they made that morning and he chuckled, "So Naru, mate, would it bother your equipment or experiment if I attempted an exorcism myself in the morning?"

Naru looked at the priest and shook his head firmly, "No, go ahead. You might also provide valuable data once we see how the equipment and environs interact once you begin. If there is a significant increase in activity, or a flux in the stream of data we are capturing it could indicate that something actually is here and is reacting to you. I know we have two talented and reliable mediums who can find no signs of spirit activity, but it is not unheard of for a medium to be either exactly correct, or way off base."

Mai nods at his announcement and says, "He is absolutely correct in that. Masako was here for the better part of the day at the same time I was, and had no inkling that my spirit guide was also here. She is simply not on the same wavelength and is unable to sense him unless he wishes for her to do so. And, yes I realize this means that there is a spirit here, but since he came and will leave with me I stand by my assessment that there are no spirits attached to this building whatsoever."

Ayako, Takigawa and John all gave Mai their full attention when she made this pronouncement about her spirit guide, and Takigawa asked, "How do you know your 'spirit guide' is safe and not a trickster spirit intent on causing more chaos and harm by lulling you into a false sense of security?"

Mai smiled brightly at the group and said, "Oh, simple, because he is the deceased elder brother of my fiancé, he loves me like his own little sister and would never cause any harm to any of us," she giggled and quickly flashed her engagement ring at the group for a quick glimpse before continuing, "And when I say any of us, I mean you guys too. Bou-san, just take my word for it for the moment, and when the case ends if you all wish, I will be happy to channel onii-san for everyone to meet him. He was an amazing medium in life, and I owe many of my developing skills to his tutelage. Oh, and Bou-san he says to tell you that he enjoyed your bands' last single he referred to it as stellar. Ayako, if you were wondering why I called you a Doctor earlier, it was because he told me that you would stake your professionalism and medical degree to save Masako when she fell, and John I'm sure we don't need to give you any proof because he says your heart is as big as the outback you hail from." The petite young woman gave each of the surprised spiritualists an understanding grin and shook her head vigorously at Ayako when the shrine maiden made a hilarious face that resembled the cavernous maw of a fish gasping for air.

Before Mai could render the rest of the irregulars mute Naru interjected and said, "I think we have all have a very long and eventful day. As I said before, Mai and I will monitor the sensors and scientific equipment overnight from the safety of the van in case the rest of the building decides to fall down without the extra support of the second-floor west side wall support. The rest of you should get some rest and meet us back here around lunch time tomorrow so we can all discuss the results from our experiment and those of you who wish to try your hand at exorcism can so during the light of day," he looked at the rest of people gathered around and waited until they each agreed and moved to depart, leaving him truly alone with Mai for the first time all day.

Once the others left, Mai and Oliver settled down in the back of the van to watch the data collect that supported the theory of land subsidence as a large impact on the activities that kept occurring at the old school building. Since the two investigators already knew the outcome of this study, they took the time to speak softly with one another about the events that happened that day.

Mai moved closer to Naru as night fell more darkly around them, covering them both with a blanket to ward off the chill in the night air as she cuddled close to his side and said, "Well, what do you think of the different hints about your true identity that I have sprinkled into the conversations we have had with the others?" Nuzzling his nose tiredly against the sensitive side of Mai's neck causing her to shiver with the sensation, a smug Naru said, "I almost spit my tea out when you started talking about Gene, and your 'fiancé', and I honestly wonder how Ayako managed to withhold her curiosity about that information long enough to leave for the night before interrogating you. We are giving them plenty of clues so that when we present them with a non-disclosure agreement at the culmination of this case no one should be able to resist the temptation to sign."

Mai nodded thoughtfully, and said, "After Bou-san brought your name up in conversation regarding our use of scientific methods I almost lost it. We should have this case all wrapped up by Tuesday if everything goes according to my estimations based off of the database timeline from the AVE, and while we have managed to rearrange some events, Masako certainly proved stubborn, huh? I mean you literally said stay away from the walls, they're weaksauce!" Mai spluttered with a loud snicker and laced her fingers through Oliver's as they sat there shaking their heads at the other medium's obstinate nature.

"Speaking of stubborn too, what do you want to wager the rest of the gang will figure out our relationship before the end of the case, but it will take Masako until well into the dollhouse case in July?" he asked her thoughtfully while Mai shook her head declining the bet.

"No dice handsome, I refuse to become the sole source of tea making for your addiction just because you're offering a wager that I have no hope of winning," she laughed and yawned, suddenly tired as the day's events caught up to her. "Mmm, Naru, let's get some practice in on the mental projection skill so I can take a nap to refresh myself early during the night?" Naru nodded at her suggestion and the two began to discuss different methods and processes they could utilize together to achieve this new goal. Surprisingly they made quite a bit of progress on the subject until a wave of mental exhaustion from exercising the new skills caused them both to falter in their purpose and even though both were fighting slumber they eventually fell prey to its siren call.