Disclaimer: All characters in Ghost Hunt are the creation of the Goddess Ono Fuyumi-sama.
The three members of the SPR team quietly sat around the conference table that had been set up in their base. Lin carefully contemplated his words. Not knowing how to explain something he felt was extremely intimate, he glanced towards Mai for support. Noticing his look, Mai gestured towards Naru with her eyes, urging Lin to speak. It appeared as though Mai was leaving it to him to begin the conversation.
Lin opened his mouth to speak before changing his mind and immediately closing it once again. Naru raised a questioning brow in Lin's direction.
"Full disclosure," Naru stated.
Lin blinked a moment before turning back to Mai, giving her a quizzical look. All she offered was a shrug, which caused him to sigh in defeat. Hanging his head, Lin closed his eyes. He couldn't believe she wasn't going to offer him any support.
Feeling Mai grab his hand, Lin quickly looked up. She gave him a slight smile, gently squeezing his hand, before speaking.
"It's safe to say we're linked to this case," Mai directed towards Naru, "but there are some things that are, of course, private."
Naru looked at her in shock. He didn't know which statement he was more surprised by.
"Explain," Naru ordered.
"I can say with confidence that Lin-san and I are the master and his beloved from the Yamazaki legend," Mai replied calmly, "but there are things of an intimate nature that neither of us care to elaborate on. So, full disclosure is unlikely."
"When did you realize this?" Naru demanded.
"I had a suspicion after Yamazaki-san told us about the legend," Mai admitted.
"Then why didn't you say anything?" Naru replied irritability.
"Well, I was trying to," Mai explained, "but someone was being a jerk."
"I'm sorry," Lin quickly apologized.
"Oh, Lin-san, I wasn't talking about you," Mai clarified.
"But it's true, isn't it?" Lin countered. "I realize now why you needed that confirmation from me. Of course you'd get upset at my careless remarks."
"I still don't completely understand why you didn't care the same way I did," Mai admitted.
"...It's because I fell in love with you," Lin explained, "not the memory of who you used to be. Although, when I think about it, you're very similar."
"So, ironically, you didn't have the same longing for your soulmate," Mai reflected, "because you were longing for me… your soulmate."
Naru let out a short laugh at Mai's comment, causing Lin to wince slightly in embarrassment.
"When you say it like that," Naru observed, "it seems completely ridiculous."
"That's true," Lin admitted. "However, to eliminate the desperation the dreams inflicted on my mind, I was instructed to keep restraints on my soul at all times. I didn't realize they would essentially act as a blinder."
"Interesting," Naru mumbled, tapping his chin.
"What is?" Mai asked.
"All these years," Naru pondered, "why weren't you as affected as Lin was before he placed restraints on his soul?"
"Well," Mai contemplated, "I basically forget the dreams after a few days. There's only the memory of Jun… it's the same as when you wake up from a dream and you know you've dreamt of someone, but the details are missing. No matter how hard you try to regain the dream, it eludes you."
"That's not at all how I experience it," Lin said in surprise. "I remember everything in great detail. Especially our deaths."
"It must be a defense mechanism Mai's mind developed," Naru hypothesized. "—Lin, what were the circumstances of your deaths?"
"Rei..." Lin trailed off.
Naru looked at him questioningly. "Rei?"
"That was me," Mai explained. "...It's a little awkward, talking about ourselves this way."
"Alright," Naru conceded. "Speak from a third-party perspective. We'll call the pair from the Yamazaki legend Rei and Jun."
"There's one other," Lin added. "Rei's brother Kai."
"Of course," Naru nodded. "He plays a key role in all of this."
"Yes," Lin confirmed. "He formed a contract with a demon, but its identity is unclear to me."
Lin hesitated for a moment, a look of uncertainty on his face.
"What's wrong?" Naru questioned.
"I'm slightly reluctant to recount the details before I know Taniyama-san is completely prepared to hear them," Lin confessed.
Naru looked to Mai for her answer.
"While I currently don't remember the details for myself," Mai replied, "I'm prepared to hear them."
Lin nodded before continuing.
"I believe it was in this house that everything transpired," Lin began. "It was shortly after Jun and Rei had informed the family of their decision. As I said, Kai managed to summon a demon and formed a contract with it. I doubt Kai understood the implications. The demon took his body as a vessel, driving out his soul. Though by this point the true Kai was already dead, the demon was contractually obligated to finish what was asked of it or be forced to forfeit its control of the host body. Unlike normal spirits, if this was to occur, the demon wouldn't be able to freely possess another."
"What's the difference?" Naru asked.
"With these types of contractual demons," Lin explained, "they become anchored to the earthly realm upon completion of a contract. The only hindrance for them is that they can't switch host bodies until their current body dies. I'm unfamiliar with the ritual that Jun used, but I believe it prevents the demon from taking full control of a body."
"Why not banish the demon?" Naru interrupted.
Lin glanced towards Mai before continuing.
"Being mortally wounded," Lin disclosed, "Jun lacked the strength to fully destroy the demon."
Mai narrowed her eyes in suspicion.
"There's more to it than that, isn't there?" she guessed.
"It's really not relevant," Lin said, trying to avoid the question.
"Please don't hide this from me," Mai begged.
Lin softly exhaled, looking at Mai sadly.
"There's a certain strength of will required to destroy a demon," he explained.
Mai considered what that meant.
"I died first, didn't I?" she questioned. Something like that, she knew, would break his will.
"Please don't let that weigh on your conscience," Lin pleaded with her. "It had no effect whatsoever on my death."
Mai contemplated his words. She knew there was nothing she could do to change the past. There was no use dwelling on things that had happened almost two centuries before. She had no idea what could have happened in the time between then and now. Whether or not they had other lives prior to this one, she couldn't say since she only remembered that one lifetime with Jun.
As of now, Mai could only consider her choices in the present. The thing that scared her, however, was that her choices might lead to the same conclusion as before. It wasn't a possibility she wanted to entertain, and she wouldn't allow herself to. She had faith in the man next to her and would trust everything to him.
"Alright," Mai finally agreed. Lin gave her a short nod of gratitude.
"Moving back to the topic at hand," Naru said, "is there anything we can do to destroy this demon?"
"There is," Lin confirmed. "However, considering it's true identity is unknown, it will require some effort."
"What do you have in mind?" Naru asked.
"I believe I have an idea of what's going on here," Lin informed Naru. "Based on how Yamazaki-san explained the behavior of his son, it appears that he's become possessed by the demon. The demon, in its weakened state, is unable to drive out the boy's soul. It must be going through a repeating cycle to find a host body, but once it manages to drive out the soul, the host body immediately dies. As to why the demon spends years being dormant only to possess the eldest son at the age of sixteen… I could only hazard a guess there, but I don't think it's relevant."
"You're thinking we should call John to exorcise the demon?" Naru asked.
"Yes, that was my thought," Lin agreed, "but there's a little more to it than that. In these circumstances, there are two levels of exorcism. Once the demon is exorcised from the body, we must move down the cycle of possession from person to place. If Brown-san can force the demon to reveal it's true name and exorcise it from the body, I will then be able to fully exorcise it from this place. It would be best to use a barrier exorcism to prevent the demon from escaping before the exorcism is done."
"Why is the name so important?" Mai wondered.
"Learning a being's true name gives you power over it," Lin explained. "This has been a central theme in various traditions of magic, religious invocation and mysticism, and it can be frequently witnessed in various aspects of culture. It's also essential in curses, as you've witnessed in our previous cases, which is why you shouldn't freely give out your full name."
"Ah," Mai replied in understanding.
She glanced at Naru when he began lightly tapping the table with his index finger. He appeared to be deep in thought.
"Well, if we have a plan," Naru finally announced, "we should see about getting John on the next available flight here. He's most likely on the other side of Japan."
