hope everyone is doing well!


Wednesday 11.12

Mai opened her eyes and stretched but stopped halfway when she realized she was no longer in the base. She was now situated on the living room couch.

"Maybe I sleepwalked…"

Swinging her legs over to couch to sit up straight, she looked around and realized she was completely alone. All the lights were off and it was pitch black outside the windows, she assumed everyone was already in bed.

"I can't believe no one woke me up to eat!" she mumbled and held her empty stomach. The brunette unsteadily walked over to the kitchen, still finding her balance after being through what felt like such a deep sleep. On her way, the calendar on the wall caught her eye. Immediately, she noticed all the days were crossed out only up until the 8th, a few days ago.

"That's strange, maybe they just forgot to mark these past few days off… they probably have a lot of other things to worry about," she shrugged to herself and then noticed something else particularly strange. Next to the calendar was a picture she was unfamiliar with. The family was all posed smiling around Reo who held an award of some kind.

"I don't remember this being here yesterday," she placed a hand on her chin and tilted her head. She reached out to touch the picture but was startled by a low voice behind her.

"How dare you," Mrs. Saito muttered under her breath. Her face was red with anger, Mai could practically feel her negative emotions radiating off of her. Mai spun around and immediately bowed, "I'm so sorry I didn't mean to pry, I just – "

Mai lifted her head and realized that Mrs. Saito had instead walked passed her and now held the picture Mai was just looking at.

"You… you brought dishonor to this family," she spat at the picture, her eyes clearly focused on the smiling boy in the middle.

"Mrs. Saito, are you alright-" Mai reached out her hand to touch the woman's shoulder, but another hand landed on her forearm and stopped her. Mai traced the arm back and found Kazuo standing there, his finger pressed to his lips. Mai made an 'oh' with her lips then took a step back to stand next to him.

"This must be a dream then," she thought, connecting the dots.

Mai and Kazuo watched as Mrs. Saito stormed down the hall, grabbing all pictures that had her son in it. Baby pictures, graduation pictures, awards, family vacation memories… all of it was stripped from the wall and put in a basket Mrs. Saito had brought with her. Each one she took down in rage, practically throwing it into the basket. Mai couldn't understand why she was angry. Something wasn't right.

After Mrs. Saito had made it through the entire house snatching up all pictures of Reo, she walked out through the back door and into the grass. Tossing the basket of pictures to the side, she went around to the side of the house where she began to pull an empty metal trash can around to the back. She picked up the basket and looked at the pictures one more time scornfully and mumbled, "I will never forgive you for your actions."

"Wait, what did she say?" Mai asked, looking up at Kazuo.

"Keep watching, Mai," he whispered back to her, disregarding her question.

Mrs. Saito took the basket and dumped all of the contents into the bin. Taking it a step further, she took a pack of matches from her pocket and struck one, causing it to ignite. She glared at the flame for a moment, her lips narrowed and her arm began to shake with the amount of force she held the match with. Mai was surprised that it had not already snapped in half. She walked over and stood directly over the trash can and only moved her eyes down as she dropped the match into the bin and watched the fire slowly spread from picture to picture. Mai covered her mouth to conceal a gasp. Mrs. Saito then slowly backed away and continued watching the roaring fire with arms crossed. The larger the fire grew, the larger the scowl of the mother's face became.

Without a moment's notice, Mai was pulled from the vision and into a black abyss with multiple glowing orbs that seemed to float without a place to go.

"What the hell was that?" Mai asked confused and slightly angered. Kazuo, who was still next to her, turned to face her and sighed.

"I'm afraid there is still much more story about this case…" he admitted with a sigh.

"How could she burn all his pictures! What kind of mother does that?" she exasperated.

"Mai, you have to uncover the truth here," Kazuo said as he held her shoulders in an attempt to have her calm down.

"The truth? What do you mean?" Mai could bring to feel herself being pulled from her dream. She held onto Kazuo's arms as if it were to hold her back from returning.

"Sometimes the living is scarier than the dead."

Mai's eyes snapped open and she shot up straight and looked around. She was still in the base where she had fallen asleep. Lin sat by the monitors, typing away with his headphones on. She placed a hand over her heart and noticed her increased heart rate.

"Was that a dream? What the hell was that…"

The door abruptly opened and in walked the one and only narcissist himself. He gave Mai a glance before turning his attention to the monitors.

"How nice it is for you to finally join us," he spoke dryly.

"What time is it?" she asked while running her fingers through her hair. Her stomach grumbled, causing her face to turn a soft pink.

"Quarter past 11," he replied after checking his wrist watch.

"At night?"

"Last time I checked, the sun was not out at night," he motioned to the window with his back towards her.

"Wait, I slept all night here? Why did you not wake me up!" she exclaimed and moved the blanket, which she didn't remember placing on herself, off of her legs.

"Gene tried, but you refused to get up. We had no other choice but to leave you here."

"Oh, geez…" she held her red face in her hands.

"Get ready then get food. We are holding interviews soon," he said as he scribed something into his book.

"Alright," she spoke softly then left the room and went down the hall to the girls' room. Mai pushed open the door.

"I don't even think there is a spirit here," Ayako gossiped while filling her perfectly manicured nails.

"It's here, but small. It seems to… want something," Masako confessed holding the kimono up to her mouth.

"Hey, Mai," Ayako acknowledged.

"Hi guys," she said rummaging through her bag to find a matching outfit for the day.

"Where were you last night, hmm?" Ayako said with a brow raised.

"Oh, I just fell asleep in the base, apparently even Gene couldn't wake me," she said with an awkward laugh.

"Interesting…" Ayako replied smugly.

"What do you mean?" Mai looked over at the red-haired doctor with a questioning look.

"Well rumor on the street is that you didn't spend the night alone," she continued to file her nails. The air caught in Mai's throat and she was thrown into a coughing fit.

"See, that proves it right there," Ayako motioned her filer over to Mai. Masako simply turned her head away and held it high.

"Yeah, right Ayako," she rolled her eyes as she entered the bathroom.

"I'm not kidding! Ask Monk," she yelled as Mai closed the door.

After she was done readying for the day, she emerged from the bathroom and was surprised to find Ayako still sitting there.

"Where did Masako go?" Mai asked as she put her dirty clothes away.

"Probably to go hang all over Naru," Ayako said with a shrug.

"So, what do you think, Mai? Is the place haunted or -" A loud scream and shattering noise cut Ayako's question short. Both of the girls' heads perked up and they looked at each other.

"That can't be good," Mai said before running out of the door with Ayako quickly behind her. The door across the hall opened up and Monk came out in the same rushed manner as them.

"Which way did that come from?" He asked looking right and left down the hall.

"The kitchen!" Mai exclaimed and started running down the hall.

"What makes you so sure about that?" Monk asked as he trailed behind her.

"It's the only place I know how to get to," she yelled back at him.

Sure enough, Mai's instincts were right. On the kitchen floor sat a rather terrified looking Mrs. Saito with Gene by her siding trying to calm the shaking woman. Her eyes were wide with fear as she looked at all the broken glass around her. Ayako pushed her way through Mai and Monk and immediately attended to the woman, asking if she had any physically injuries. She shook her head no, but her mouth was trembling and she couldn't bring herself to speak.

"What happened?" A voice asked coolly from behind Mai. She looked behind her to find Naru towering above her closely.

"I was fixing the camera that went out when all the sudden the cabinets began to rumble. A couple glasses then shot out of one cabinet, aimed at Mrs. Saito, but they just barely missed. I saw the whole thing," Gene explained while still kneeling next to her. Naru nodded then walked over to the only open cabinet where he assumed the glasses had come from. He looked in it, then turned to face Mrs. Saito and his twin.

"It would be ideal to host your interview now," Naru spoke with his arms crossed.

"Naru! She just had the fright of her life, you should let her rest," Mai hissed at him, to which he returned with a cold glare. However, Mai was determined to hold her ground and gave him one of her own. There was a small snort from Gene who quickly became captivated with the ceiling when the feuding pair turned their glances to him.

"N-No, that's alright," Mrs. Saito said, still obviously shaken up, "I would rather get this over with sooner than later." Gene helped her up from the floor and lead her out of the room and towards the base.

"Takigawa and Brown, clean up this mess," Naru ordered. A huff came from Monk who went over to the closet to grab a broom.

"Mai," her ears perked up and she looked over at her boss with hopeful eyes. Was she finally about to get assigned a meaningful task?

"Tea."

All her hopes fell through the floor as he turned around to leave the room.

"Oh, Mai," John called her attention. In his hands, he held a plate of food that was extended towards her. She looked to the food then back to him with her head slightly tilted.

"Well, I know you missed dinner last night and breakfast this morning, so I saved some food for you," he confessed with a smile. Mai was so overjoyed that her eyes began to water.

"John, if you weren't a priest I would marry you right now," she said as she took the plate of food from his hands and scarfed it down while waiting for the water to boil.

"Geez, Mai. Breathe," Monk whispered to her as he passed her by sweeping. After taking her last bite of food, she smiled at John who returned the favor shyly. As she finished washing her plate, the teapot whistled and she poured nine cups of tea for everyone at base. She carried the tray of tea oh so carefully to the base, praying that she didn't drop any along the way. Thankfully, she made it securely to the base and pushed open the door with her back. Setting the tray on the table, everyone reached to pick up a cup and a chime of 'thanks you' filled her ears. She then stood behind the couch Naru and Gene sat on since there was no more room on the couches.

"Mrs. Saito, could you think of any reason that most of this activity could be happening to you?" Naru began as he opened his black book and clicked his pen. Mai tried a bit to peak over his shoulder and finally see what he keeps in there. However, she was surprised to find it was completely in English. She cursed herself for not paying attention more in class.

"I don't know. My son and I always had an open and healthy relationship since he was young," she picked up the tea cup from the table and brought it to her lips.

"Are you positive you've always have this loving relationship you claim?" Naru asked rather bluntly. Gene hit his foot from under the table as to hide it from the client.

"If twin telepathy is really a thing, Naru must be getting an earful right now," Mai thought. If it was, however, he didn't show it and held the same stoic expression as he normally did. Mrs. Saito became offended by his insinuation, and moved the tea from her lips and placed a hand over her heart.

"I'm sorry, I believe what my brother is trying to ask is if there could have been any chance he was simply unhappy at any points of his life? Anything that could cause a possible resentment?" Gene smiled softly at the woman across from them. Tensing up a bit, she set her teacup down on the table.

"Not to my knowledge," she said as she straightened her back, "My husband and I always tried to foster a loving and caring environment for him. Excuse me, but why is this relevant?" She said a bit snappier than she meant.

"Most of the time, spirits only linger if they have unspoken business or if there is a residual emotional trauma. Especially considering the circumstances of his death these two seem to be very plausible," Naru explained to the client, "Now, Mrs. Saito, do you or have you ever had other children?"

"No, Reo was my only child," for the first time in the interview, Mai noticed she spoke with a hint of sadness.

"The situation revolving your son's death was very sudden, what exactly –" Naru began but was cut off by his twin.

"This must be very difficult for you to relive, but if you could please explain more about his passing if that is OK with you," Gene comforted her. Naru shot him a glare for interrupting him, but Gene ignored it and knew what he did was better than let Naru's bluntness upset the client further.

"A few of us have been classmates with him for quite some time, and his passing was just all very sudden," Gene continued. Mai nodded in agreement.

"As I'm sure you have heard, Reo had an undetected heart condition," Mrs. Saito stated as ran her finger around the top of her teacup. Mai noticed the air in the room suddenly became stuffy and anxious.

"Exactly what was this heart condition?" Naru questioned abruptly.

"I believe the doctor said it was… hypertrophic cardiomyopathy," she took her time with her answer and looked over to the right as she spoke. Something then clicked in Mai's head. She remembered in psychology class about people tending to look a certain direction when they are lying, "Was it left or right?"

"Did your son pass here, at home?" Naru continued his investigation.

"Yes, right in his room," she nodded as she spoke, seemingly very confident about this answer. Naru looked at his book and then changed the topic.

"Do you know who lived in this house before your family?"

"My parents, they were the first to own this house. They gave me this house as our wedding gift," she explained to the group.

"And are they still living?" Gene queried.

"Yes, in the countryside," she nodded.

"And there was no paranormal activity before the passing of your son, correct?" Naru questioned. Mrs. Saito shook her head, "No, my husband and I were never believers in… all of this until now." Naru nodded and paused for a moment, reading something over in his book. There was a stark silence in the air because he snapped his book closed, "That will be all, Mrs. Saito. Thank you for your time."

On her way to the door, she stopped and informed the team, "I will be leaving to pick up tonight's dinner, but my husband will be home soon if you are in need of anything."

"Thank you, Mrs. Saito," Gene said with a respectful nod.

"Geez, that old Monk and John still aren't back," Ayako remarked as she plopped onto the couch.

"Must have been a lot of more glass than we thought," Mai shrugged.

Naru stepped aside from his conversation with Gene and have his next commands, "Matsuzaki and Hara, please do a temperature sweep then report back before dinner."

"Well let's get this over with," Ayako huffed before getting up and making her way with Masako out of the base.

"Mai –" Naru began.

"Yeah, yeah. Mai, tea. I know," she imitated.

"You're getting smarter every day," he replied with a smirk. She was almost out the door when she stopped to face the identical pair.

"I don't know how these interviews normally go, but did you think something was a bit… strange about some of her answers?" Her question caught Naru's attention and he turned his head towards her before looking over at his other half who shook his head.

"She was probably just tense because of everything she's gone through in the past few days," Gene answered her with a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, you're right," she said before exiting the base and heading towards the kitchen.

If only she had eyes in the sky, she would see Naru watch her every move through the monitors, encased in deep thought.


Thank you all so so much for the positive and supportive reviews on my last few chapters. I think I want to start responding to them individually, maybe? I have the next chapter written and it is the longest one I have written yet - Would you mind a super long chapter or would it be best if I split it up into two parts? I'd really like opinions on this, I can't decide . . I have a super important day tomorrow, please send positive vibes my way, I would be forever grateful! Thank you again for reading, and I'll see you in the next chapter (which should hopefully be up by next weekend!) Have a lovely day/night.

Best wishes always, Lex.