Eye Sight...

Chapter three… the case.

Yakumo nodded his head, not listening to Haruka as she retold the events of her date. He didn't need a retelling because he'd been there for most of it, so he only caught a few words here and there until he heard Haruka's date's name. "I wasn't expecting Ren to ask me out again, I mean we have known each other for a while but, I didn't think he liked me." Haruka smiled over at Yakumo.

He raised an eyebrow, not willing to voice the question that he was burning to ask.

"So I said yes, I mean I'm not dating anyone and he's a lot of fun." It was a good thing that Haruka had turned before answering or she would have seen Yakumo's face contort with anger.

'She said 'yes'?' he fumed, but checked his face so that it wouldn't show.

"I want you to meet him, he said he'd like to meet you too, so be nice okay." Haruka said pulling out her cell phone.

Yakumo shot up from his seat, metal chair clattering to the floor. "NO."

Haruka stared at him, frozen at his strange behavior. "Why?"

Yakumo held up the case file, "We have a case; it's going to take a couple of days." He said praying she would leave it alone.

"Alright, when are we leaving?"

"As soon as—"

He was cut off by the door opening. Detective Gotou stood tall and menacing in the door way rain dripping off him.

"Ready to leave yet." he barked, shaking his head making water droplets splatter all around the room.

"No," Haruka said frowning at the older man. "I can't just pick up and leave! I need to pack, and tell my landlord and-and…"

"I'll buy you new clothes." Yakumo said grabbing his jacket and wallet.

Haruka sputtered. "No-no!"

Gotou sighed, grabbing a hold of Haruka's arm, pulling her out the door followed closely by Yakumo. They walked to Gotou's car and piled in, Ishii and Gotou in the front, Haruka and Yakumo in the back. Haruka yelled at them to let her out, slapped Ishii and Yakumo, but finally settled for not talking to any of them.

After a few hours of tense silence, Ishii asked about the case. Which Gotou was happy to tell him about, watching in the rear-view mirror to see if Haruka had calmed down enough to listen, it seemed like it, because she was watching him out of the corner of her eye.

"The case is in the Kyoto Prefecture, Soraku district in Wazuka. The Yoritomo family's mansion, been in the family over a hundred years. Till last year when their idiotic son sold it to an American. Mr. Gray is the one who called us. Seems he can't sale because there's a rumor that the house is haunted. He didn't believe the rumors at first of course believing it was just the locals way of saying they didn't want him there."

"And he'd be right." Ishii said glaring out the window like Mr. Gray could see him.

"Anyway," Gotou continued like he hadn't been interrupted. "He called in some paranormal researchers from the states at first and then more from Japan. The psychics all said that the house was haunted, but none were able to get proof until the first death. A male medium died, and not long after him three others, all male, but not all mediums. It was after the last death that Mr. Gray told the police what the teams had been saying about the house and asked for help."

"And you got the case, and dragged us into it." Yakumo said, flipping through the file with a bored expression.

"Of course the chief asked for me, because I have the most experience."

"So we're going into find out why the ghosts killed the mediums?" Haruka asked, talking to them again after four hours of silence.

"No, that Gotou's job, ours is to help the ghost move on." Yakumo looked over at Haruka, her eyes narrowed, as she turned not looking at him.

"Yes, well I think Haruka could help me with that actually."

"How?"

"You'll see." He replied smiling.

"Hello? Is anyone in?" a voice asked in very broken Japanese.

Mai looked up from her desk, pen posed to finish the last of her work for today. "Yes please come on." She called, getting up to greet them.

It was an older man, maybe thirty. He looked like an older John, with blonde hair and blue eyes; he was taller than John, around Lin height, with a strong build and a charming face.

"Can I help you?" Mai asked unfazed by his looks, but seeing as how she work with five very good looking guys that was only normal.

"I'm looking for Kazuya Shibuya? He came very highly recommended, and I need his help with a little problem I have with a property that I own." His Japanese sucked, but Mai understood enough that she knew he needed Naru.

"Can you wait over here for a bit? I'll just go check if he's in." she said smiling as she left him in the lounge/break room.

Kazuya was sitting at his desk, tea cup in hand and a book opened on his lap, he looked up as Mai came in. "What?"

"We have a client."

"Get Lin." He said closing his book, getting to his feet and walking over to where she was still standing. "Is something wrong Mai?"

She shook her head, taking his tea cup. "No, it's nothing."

He watched her for another moment, before passing her. "Get Lin please."

This time Mai was frozen from shock. Did Naru actually say please? She shook her head, a smile lighting her eyes. She bounced out of the office and over to Lin.

"Lin? Naru needs you in the break room."

"Hmm." Lin looked up at her, nodded getting up. "Thank you Mai."

She smiled brightly at him before bouncing over to the kitchenette.

"You want my team to excise the spirits?" Kazuya crossed his arms, glaring at the annoying American as he answered in perfect English. "Why would I do that?"

"Because," Mr. Gray said smirking. "Professor Davis owes me a favor; he's the one who told me his son Oliver was here in Japan."

Kazuya glared, "Blackmailing me will only lead to more trouble." He said, the room seemed to lose its heat, until Mai walk through the door holding a tray of tea.

She set one in front of Naru before handing one to their guest, who smiled in thanks. She pushed one across the table to Lin, and sat next to Naru, earning a questioning glance from him.

She ignored him, not really sure why she felt she should sit here, but she knew that the tension in the room had eased when she walked in, so she stayed next to Naru, feeling strangely protective.

"We'll do it." Kazuya said motioning to Mai. "Leave your information with my assistant."

The team would meet the next day at seven, than make the long drive to Wazuka together.

Ishii looked up from his word puzzle book, glanced over at Gotou and then out his window, for the tenth time in the last half hour.

"What is it Ishii?"

"Nothing." He said casting a look at the back seat. His eyes lit up at the two forms snuggled close in the back. "Hmm, they are so cute when they're asleep."

"Yeah," Gotou sighed. "That boy should just step up and claim her already, before someone else does."

"I heard Ren called her back, and they had set up a date for this weekend." Ishii said looking at his puzzle book again.

"It won't be long before Yakumo snaps." Gotou smiled. "We can wait."

Yakumo frowned, normally he wouldn't have stayed silent, but the chance that Haruka would wake up if he did, and he would rather cut his toes off then wake her up. She shifted in her sleep and he held his breath, hoping the Gotou and Ishii wouldn't notice. She sighed wrapping her arms around his, resting her head on his shoulder. He breathed in smiling at the smell of pomegranate.

"How long you going to pretend to be asleep?" Ishii asked.

Yakumo jerked up looking at the two other men, both peeking back at him. "I wasn't." he glared.

"Hmm…"

"Right..."

"Shut up and watch the road." He growled.

The rest of the ride was silent with only a few random outbursts from Ishii when he got a word right. Gotou was about ready to strangle him and dump his body in a creek, when they saw the sign for 'Wazuka' Gotou sighed in relief.

"Thank you." He said to no one in particular.

The mansion came into view, a massive structure sitting atop a steep hilled landscape. A long drive twisted up to a stone wall the encircled the mansion and the surrounding properties. While the wall block most of the house, Gotou could tell from the style of the roof and the color that the house had been built in a Victorian style, not very common in this part of the country.

Ishii shifted his weight, his head slipping down the window. He'd finally fallen to sleep ten minutes ago, and Gotou wasn't in any hurry to wake the annoying younger man.

"Another ten minutes?" Yakumo mumbled in his sleep, finally lulled into real sleep when it became apparent that Haruka wasn't going to wake up anytime soon.

"Yeah, Okay kids," Gotou said smiling back at them, "Another ten minutes."

When the group finally arrived it was nearing dawn, while Haruka was wide awake and ready to begin, Gotou was dead tired, and suggested that they all get more sleep before starting the day. Yakumo and Ishii agreed.

The house keeper Gregory—a half-American half Japanese young man—showed them to there rooms, Haruka was right across from Yakumo while the Detectives where down the hall. Gregory also showed them the dinning room, the living room and a few lounges where they could relax.

"I'll be in the front room until later today, so please feel free to find me for anything that I can assist you with." He said looking pointedly at Haruka.

Gotou shooed him off before Yakumo murdered him, asking if he could bring him some hot tea to help him relax before turning in for the night. He left bowing deeply to his elders, but not before throwing a wink at Haruka.

"Well, time for bed you three go on, off you go." He said once Gregory had left.

"I don't really want to sleep in a haunted house." Haruka said casting a worried look around the room.

"We can't be sure it is haunted—"

"It is." Yakumo said cutting off Ishii who paled.

"You m-mean were in a real haunted house?"

"Yes."

"darn moldy carp."

Everyone turned to stare at him.

"Um, Yakumo?"

"Yes?"

"Can I sleep in your room?" Haruka asked looking at the carpeted floor as they walked back towards their rooms. She was pulling at the end of her shirt nervously, not sure if she could look him in the eye and ask.

He was quiet for a long moment seeming to decide, when really he was just to stop himself from yelling in triumph. He sighed, glanced over and delivered his lines with out the slightest note of practice. "Fine, but don't tell Gotou he'll never stop teasing you if you do."

She squealed, smiling up at him. "Thank you."

Mai sat wedged in between large boxes of extra equipment. She stared grumpily out the front windshield, the only window that she could even see from her very uncomfortable spot. She'd managed to sleep for most of the trip, but now that she was awake she couldn't seem to fall asleep.

Mai let out a loud growl, earning a glance from Naru.

"Is something wrong Mai?" Lin asked the faintest hint of a laugh in his voice.

"No, nothing at all." Mai said folding her arms; she shifted in her seat trying uselessly to get more comfortable.

Naru glanced back again annoyed with all the noise she was making. "Stop moving Mai, where here, ten more minutes."

Mai glared at him felling her blood boil at his tone. "How about you try sitting back here and see if you can sit still?" she snapped kicking the back of his chair.

"Mai..."

"What?"

"Relax; we'll get you out in a minute." Mai had been so busy fidgeting the she hadn't noticed the van stopping or that Lin was no longer in the driver seat.

The door on her left opened and the box was moved out of the way, she fell onto her side looking up at Lin, who had an uncharacteristic smile on his face. Just a small one but Mai saw it.

"Let me give you a hand." He said helping her out of the van; she stumbled away from him trying to catch herself. She stood, smiling proudly until her legs cramped from the long drive began to give out under her.

"Wow now, take it easy Mai we don't want you getting hurt before we even start, now do we?" Hosho said catching her under the arms.

Ayako flipped her hair over her shoulder, sighing as she said. "She can't help it, she's accident prone. And ghosts just can't leave her alone."

"They can too." Mai said blushing bright red.

"No, they can't." Ayako and Hosho said together shaking their heads at her.

"Stop fooling around and get to work bringing in the equipment." Naru said arms filled with cables.

"Yes boss!"

Ishii ran towards Gotou, panting from his run up the stairs. "No one's seen her down stairs either!" he said hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

"No one?" he asked feeling a cold dread seep into his stomach. "Where could she have gone?"

Gotou had gone to find Haruka two hours ago, he went to her room to find it empty, and had been searching for her ever since. He and Ishii had covered all the floors of the house asked the staff, they'd been calling her cell but she wasn't picking up.

He rubbed roughly at his hair, sighing. They had to choice; it was time to tell Yakumo. He avoided waking the younger man because of his tendency to over react when it came to Haruka. It hadn't always been that way, but since his uncles death he had just been more cautious with people and if possible had closed himself off from others even more, but Haruka seemed to have been able to get him out of it over the last few weeks.

The only made it worse that she might have been kidnapped by the spirits in the mansion.

Sucking in a deep breath he moved to knock on the door, it opened under his hand. He pushed it opened worry clouding his mind.

The room was dimly lit, even in the earlier afternoon light coming in through the shades. He waked over to the lumpy bed dreading what he would find.

The lump rolled, hair poking out from under the blankets.

"Yakumo?" a groan from the other side of the room startled him; he spun to face the couch, hand going for his gun. "Yakumo?" another groan, louder now and very annoyed.

Yakumo sat up slowly, looking over through barely opened eyes. "What do you want old man?" he snapped.

Gotou pointed at the bed confused. "Who is that?"

Yakumo shrugged, still too tired to remember that Haruka was sleeping in the bed. He flopped back snuggling down under his blankets.

Gotou moved to stand next to the bed, reaching out a hand to shake the slumbering person.

Haruka woke to the sight off a hand coming down towards her chest. She didn't know what else to do so she screamed.

Her shriek made Gotou jerk back and Yakumo shot up on his couch, blankets falling to expose his bare chest. He looked over at the bed where Haruka was still screaming, sitting up in the bed eyes closed, hands clenching her blankets to her chest.

"Haruka!" Yakumo yelled getting her attention with a well aimed pillow to the side of her head. "Shut up! Its Gotou, stop screaming!"

She shut up in a second looking over to confirm that it was really Gotou and not some perverted ghost, or worse Yakumo. "Sorry." She mumbled glancing over at Yakumo who held her gaze.

"So, what are you doing in Yakumo's room Haruka?" he asked watching as the two paled.

"Oops."

(A/N. Yes... Thank you, Thank you. *bows repeatedly to the crowd of adoring readers.* I couldn't have done it without all the wonderful review that I got from all of you! So review more and more and the chapters will keep getting better! Thanks again hope you liked it! \(=3=)/ )