The next morning in the SPR office.
After Mai took a few weeks off Naru called Yasuhara Osamu a seventeen-year-old soon to be high school graduate from high school to fill in for her.
"So... Boss why did Mai call off for a while? It doesn't sound like her to call off for a few weeks at a time out of nowhere." The teen who wore glasses asked his boss who is only a few months older than himself.
"She told me that she needed to go help her old teacher who took her in after her mother died because they got injured." The indigo eyed teen stated with a slightly unsure tone as he continued. "Although it sounded a bit odd considering she sounded a bit unsure of herself."
Yasu looked thoughtful momentarily and just as he was about to say something the front door opened.
"Is this Shibuya Psychic Research?" A woman in her late twenties with dark brown hair and dark blue eyes asked. The woman took in the office as she waited for the answer as Yasu got up to go get Lin as Naru spoke up.
"Yes, this is. My name is Kazuya Shibuya and I am the manager of this establishment." Once he finished the sentence both Yasu and Lin were in the room.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Shibuya my name is Aoi Tanaka. I am the vice-principal of Yomiyama North Middle School and I bring a case that needs to be solved before it turns into last year all over again." The woman said seriously catching Yasu off guard at how she sounded both serios but also fearful.
"Ok then ma'am, please have a seat." He says gesturing to the couch across from where Naru had been standing near and soon took a seat at. Yasu and Lin followed suit Yasu sitting next to the boss while Lin sat at a chair nearby. Aoi sat on the couch and looked at all three men before sighing softly going over how she was going to word what was going on to them so that it made sense.
As soon as everyone was seated Naru spoke up.
"What do you mean by before it turns into last year all over again?"
Aoi sighed at the question but it gave her a good starting point, so she began from the beginning. "Thirty years ago, the school had a third-year class three student named Misaki Yomiyama. He was the popular one, the one people looked up to and would help others when they need it. But one day he died. No one knows how he died many think it was caused by a fire or even a car crash. None of his classmates could believe it so one day one of the classmates stood up and said 'Misaki isn't dead he's right there' and pointed to where her late classmates' desk was. Everyone followed in her example and then graduation day came." She paused momentarily as she pulled something out of her purse.
"What happened on graduation day?" Yasu asked genuinely curious as Naru looked at the woman seeing worry evident in her eyes.
"The principal of the school at the time went along with Class Three's charade and put Misaki's seat in with everyone else's. Although that is not what I am getting to. Just before graduation ended, they took the class photo. When they looked at the photo after printing multiple copies, they found this." She said handing them what she took out which seemed to be a photo.
"They found a picture?" Naru asked raising an eyebrow at the woman.
"Look here." She says pointing to the top right just behind a student's shoulder where a pale teenage male stood. "That is Misaki." She finished that part of the story.
"Didn't you say this was from thirty years ago? Why bring it up now?" Yasu asked after looking at the picture. He felt a little bit anxious about the picture but did not really understand why he felt that way though.
"I am not finished; I have not even told you what has been happening since." She said softly her eyes sad at the thought.
"Then please continue, Miss Tanaka." Naru said calmly as he looked at the picture with a slightly calculating look in his eyes.
"Every year after this Class Three of our third year has seemed to be cursed. Every few years, every month, a student or a student's family or sometimes both would die in some form of an accident or because of a health issue." She said not finished but paused long enough for the men in front of her to process what she had just said.
"Wait this happens every few years?" Yasu asked in shock. "And no one hired anyone to stop to it before?"
"The past and current principals don't believe in curses and spirits. The only reason the principal wanted to get help this year is because his daughter is in the class." Aoi said with a sigh and smiled slightly as she saw a spark of anger in both teen's eyes at that even if one of them is concealed better than the other.
"You said something about last year's class. What do you mean you don't want it to turn out like that class?" Naru asks.
"Last year's Class Three was the worst it had ever been. Only four students remain alive from what happened during the class trip. These four stopped the Calamity for the remainder of the year but it didn't stop before it killed most of the class. If you accept the principal has already contacted these four to help out to at least try and stop it for the year if they can." She said finishing her explanation and hoped he would take the case.
"I accept this case. And is it possible to know the names of these students who we will be working alongside?" Naru asked curiously hoping to do a bit of research before they left for the school later that day.
"Of course." She said pulling pictures of each student out of her bag. "This is Kouichi Sakakibara." She said as she pointed to the teen with darkish brown hair and brown eyes.
"Hey Naru, he looks a bit like a male version of Mai." Yasu said slightly amused by the slight annoyance that crossed the older teens face.
"This is Yuuya Mochizuki." She said pointing to the next picture which showed a dark brown-haired teen with lighter almost goldish brown eyes.
"Actually, Naru he looks more like her." Yasu says looking at the picture in shock at the slight similarities.
Aoi smiled slightly at the male's antics. "This is Naoya Teshigawara." This picture showed a teen with light brown hair and dark brown eyes.
"I don't have a comparison for him." Yasu muttered a bit disappointed by that fact.
"And this is Mei Misaki." She said pointing to the last picture which showed a girl who has a visible red eye with her other eye covered in a medical eye-patch and shoulder length black hair. But to both teens she looks almost exactly like Mai minus her hair and eyes.
"Could it be possible for that to be..." Yasu trailed off pulling out his phone and bringing up a picture of Mai and comparing the two.
"It is possible but not likely." Naru replied but found himself doubting his own words.
"Are you two alright?" Aoi asked concerned seeing as the two looks both confused and conflicted.
"Yes. It is just she looks so much like our co-worker Mai that it just shocked both of us." Naru replied sighing. "We will arrive later this evening please leave the address and also make sure we have a room to set up base in."
"Alright we will thank you very much." She says handing them a paper with the address on it and leaving the pictures she showed them today. "I will see you later when you arrive."
Aoi got up and left the office with a small smile on her face.
"Yasuhara call everyone and have them meet up here in by noon. And maybe we will find out why Misaki-san looks so much like Mai." Naru said before going into his office leaving Yasu to do as asked.
In Yomiyama
Mei arrives in Yomiyama around ten in the morning and walked out of the train station typing in a familiar number.
"Hey Kouichi, I just arrived in town. Where do you want me to go, straight to the school?" She asked.
'My grandparents' house. We are all meeting here in an hour so you can drop your stuff off at your moth- not your shop.' Kouichi said slipping up slightly and regretting the slip up.
"You don't have to worry about calling it my shop Kouichi. Even if I own it, it still isn't my shop. It will always be hers even if she is not around to run it." Mei said as she began walking down the street on her way to her mother's old shop which was being run by someone she trusted.
'I still feel bad about saying that sort of thing.' The male on the other end of the line said with a concerned tone of voice, which made her smile slightly.
"Don't worry about it. And by the way you said something last night about the principal hiring ghost hunters? Do you know who he hired?"
'Uh I think they are call SPR or something like that.' He answers making her stiffen and her grip momentarily tightened on her phone. When he did not get a response, he spoke again. 'Are you alright Mei?' He asked worriedly.
"I will tell you about it when I get to your grandparents house, I will tell all of you that." She said with a sigh as she was soon able to see the shop. "Anyway, I am at the shop so I will go put my stuff down before I come over. I will be there in like half an hour." She spoke before she ended the call and headed inside relaxing a bit as she saw the familiar creepy doll shop.