Cases of a Different Kind 2
A/N: Thank you to Ghost loves japan 77 and D C JoKeR H S for reviewing the last chapter. Also, I'm looking for a Beta. If you're interested, please PM me!
The case kicks off in this chapter, with ghosts, action and more!
Summary: A manor shrouded in mystery. A family in turmoil. Children in danger. It's up to SPR to handle the case. With Naru be able to keep Mai safe?
Case 1: Hime Shoen
Chapter 3: Hime Shoen Part 1
The ride to Hime Yasumu was a quiet one with Mai, Lin and Naru in the van. Monk, Ayako and Yasu rode in the blonde's car, enjoying the ability to blare music at their leisure. Mai occasionally used the radio to communicate with them while Naru slept, but was fearful of waking him. The brunette cast the young man a weary look. She took in his pale complexion, the bags under his eyes a sheer contrast to his skin tone. He physical seemed smaller, his shoulders almost always hunched, his hands shakier than usual, his appetite gone.
Mai sighed, leaning back in her seat, rolling her head against the rest as she felt her muscles bunching. Her restlessness caused solely by the man sleeping next to her.
"It's not your fault Mai." Lin's voice scared her, "He knows that. You should know that too." Mai frowned, her eye brows knitting together in doubt.
"I don't know Lin. If I had just handled the missing persons case on my own. If I hadn't brought you into it..." She sighed, casting her sleeping partner a quick look, "Maybe this wouldn't be happening."
Lin scoffed, "If you had not been there, then there is a high chance that the demon would have ended up killing Naru, and the rest of the team and it would have continued to kill afterwards." The finality in his tone caused Mai to close her mouth, her retort dying on her tongue. Instead, she chose to look out the windshield, taking in the growing forest around them.
SPR had finally arrived at the Hime Yasumu.
xXxXx-xXx- Cases of a Different Kind 2 -xXx-xXxXx
They team pulled up the broken mansion, the sun high in the sky. Support pillars lay on the ground, half covered by foliage. Light filtered through the top of the building, shining through the front door from the missing roof and upper floor. The once pristine red and white paint on the exterior of the house was peeling, weathered and worn. What was once the low porch was destroyed, wood chipped, broken and in some places, completely missing. The weeds had taken root in the wooden fence, making the posts nearly completely invisible. From where Mai sat in the van, she could see how old the place was, the very structure looking as if it were on the verge of collapse.
Naru stirred from his sleep, mumbling as he sat up and undid his seat belt. He was groggy, far more so than usual. Once he left the vehicle, Mai jumped out too, taking in the surrounding area. There was a silence to the woods that didn't seem to belong. There were no birds singing. No wildlife lurking around. There was simply nothing. The air was heavy Mai realised, a thickness that coated everything like sorrow. It was suffocating.
"Why don't you just leave?" The familiar voice of Kimiko reached the team at the front of the Shoen.
"Because you don't belong here! This is my land!" A gruff voice echoed soon after, drawing the rest of the team over to the disturbance. Around the side of the house revealed a lake, manmade and filled with debris. Kimiko stood in front of a tall man with black hair that looked to be clumped in sweat. His face was red with rage, arms tense as he took a threatening step towards Kimiko.
"Stop where you are!" SPR, as well as Kimiko and the unknown man, turned to Mai, who stood with her back straight, her gun held firm in her hands, "I suggest that you step away from Ms Kimiko. Slowly." As the brunette spoke, she edged closer to the pair, trying not to spook that angry man into a rage.
"And who the hell do you think you are little girl? Women shouldn't play with guns." The man sneered, waving a dismissive had at Mai as Kimiko gasped at his display. It was this act that made Mai walk straight up to the man, holstering her gun as she went, and twisted his arm behind his back and had him on his knees before they could blink.
"My name is Mai Taniyama. Mai Taniyama for your information. A part of sector six of Tokyo police force. And I do suggest that you not make any sudden moves." She hissed into his ear, drawing him up to stand as she let him go, "Now, if you don't want this to continue with me calling in reinforcements, I suggest you leave."
"Pathetic." The man spat at Kimiko before staking off, rounding the corner of the building, glaring at the team as he went. Once he was gone, Kimiko tapped Mai on the shoulder, drawing the brunette's wary gaze.
"I'm so sorry about my cousin Goro. He's always like this when he wants something that isn't his." Kimiko apologised, making Mai smile.
"He's just a male. It's like you took his favourite toy away." Ayako chimed in, approaching the two women.
"Well you see. That is a very accurate analogy. Let's go inside and I'll tell you more." The dark haired woman insisted, walked off around the corner of the home and drawing them through the ruined porch. They entered what must have been a grand hallway at one point in time. The marble columns were cracked and chipped, the wooden floor eaten away at by time and termites. The rice paper that used to cover the sliding doors virtually gone with age. The grand staircase that would have led to the second story of the manor completely destroyed. Only the right wing of the home seemed to be in some semblance of working order, which is where Kimiko directed them to. The Hime descendant slide open one of the only doors in the foyer, opening up the way to what looked like a library.
"Mother!" A young girl ran through the doorway, her arms wrapping around Kimiko's waist before a boy ran up and did the same, "Is he gone?"
"Yes. Goro left. And you can thank these lovely people for helping me." Kimiko prying her children from her legs and turned them to face the team, "Everyone, these are my children, Shinji and Masayuki. Shin, Yuki, these are the people I got to help us."
The children nodded shyly, turning and walking back in to the room at their mother's insistence. The rest of the team followed, taking in the dusty shelves and old books that filled the room. There were tables and couches covered in plastic. And boxes filled with cleaning and painting supplies.
"I'm sorry for the mess. We're trying to fix the place up but the contractors are too terrified to stay. And we're in a legal battle against Goro to keep the property in the family." Kimiko explained, letting the children sit down before showing the team where they could start setting up. Naru, Mai and Yasu sat down on the couches while Ayako, Monk and Lin started gathering equipment from the van.
"What kind of legal battle?" Mai asked.
"Well. That's the thing. The Hime family where known to only ever birth females. But a few hundred years ago, when the family first splintered, was the first time something went wrong. All I know is that the family head Yukino, had her first daughter married against her will. She died, but the details are unknown. And he husband, which had been married into the family, had remarried, but had stayed within the family. That branch is what Goro is part of. He is the fourth generation since that time. I am the fifth in the Hime Branch line. Shinji is the first male to have been born since then in my family. But Goro is the fifth. He feels he's entitled to the land because of the wrong that was done to his ancestor. But we don't know what that wrong doing is." Kimiko sighed, brushing a hand through her hair as she continued, "We want to fix this place up to be an inn and camping grounds. We want to share the Hime Yasumu, and its history. But Goro wants to sell it for land development for his company."
"He sounds incredibly greedy." Ayako said, expressing her opinion of the horrible man, "Why can't he just leave it be?"
"Well we have to figure out what this 'wrong' was to make him had the Hime line so much. Do you have the deed to the land Kimiko?" Naru added, his face very faintly coated in sweat. He looked pale, and he was struggling to sit straight.
"No." Kimiko shook her head, a frown on her face, "The deed has been missing for years now. A rumour was that Yukino hid it in the Shoen somewhere. But no one has found it."
The team remained silent, taking in the information they were given. Mai took the time to think. 'Something happened. Something so bad that the family head hid the deed and very likely the history with it. But what?' Her train of thought was cut short when she felt a tingling at the back of her neck and her vision distorted.
Suddenly, she knew she was in a vision. Trees surrounded her, the wind blew gently through the trees overhead. But she didn't enjoy it. She felt sorrow. A horrible, dreadful feeling that made her want to break down and never stop. But then she felt herself focus. Staring straight through a window and into a room filled with books. People were moving around inside. And that's when she felt it. A need. A desire to hug and protect and to keep. It was then that Mai realised that she was staring through the eyes of a spirit. A spirit that was looking straight at Masayuki. And Masayuki was looking at in return.
A scream drew Mai back to her body, her head throbbing as she realised it was Yuki screaming, "The evil woman is look at us! The evil woman is here!"
The team flew into action, Monk and Ayako running from the room with camera's as Lin ran to the window, whistling for his Shiki while Kimiko and Mai grabbed Masayuki and Shinji. The sheer terror in the little girl's voice was enough to set them all on edge. And Mai knew the spirits true intend, and knew the children needed protection.
They stayed in their spots for what felt like hours, only moving when Ayako and Monk returned from their chase, the red head pulled leaves from her hair, "Well we didn't manage to see it. But we placed a camera down, so hopefully we'll get something." Monk said, sitting down heavily as he brushed off his shirt.
Mai could practically feel the heaviness in the air lift at his words. Shinji shivered in her arms as she let him go. Naru had excused himself to the far corner of the room, his fatigue too strong now that the panic had settled. Mai couldn't help the frown on her face as she watched him relax, his breathes evening out as he feel asleep.
"Masayuki. Shinji. Let's go make some lunch," Kimiko offered, taking the hands of her children before looking at Mai, "You can use everything in this room. There is a bathroom just down the hallway next to the kitchen, we'll call when lunch is ready."
The team nodded, watching as the mother and her children left the room, a sense of urgency hanging in the air.
"Well then. Ayako, Monk, why don't you set up some cameras? Yasu and I will look around, see if we can find any more information." Mai stated, casting a quick look at Naru, "And Lin. Could you try figure out what that spirit was?"
Lin lifted his eyebrow at her request, knowing he had little to know information about the spirit to actually research it, "I can only do so much Mai."
"I know. But I had another waking vision. I saw it. I felt what it felt. I know what it wants." The brunette shivered, waiting for the tall man to get his note book before continuing, "It felt like sadness. Like I had been sad for so long that nothing could make me happy anymore. But then, the spirit looked in here to see Masayuki. It was like a tidal shift, and everything became a little happier. But it felt wrong. Like it would do anything to get the kids. It was a horrible feeling. Like drowning almost."
The team listened as they worked around the room, "Very well. I'll see what I can come up with for you." Lin agreed, checking his notes before pulling out his computer.
"Well Mai, it seems it's just you and me!" Yasu cheered, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and drawing her to the shelves. The pair started looking through the titles, pulling anything that seemed useful or interesting. Within minutes they already had two piles of books beside the table and were still going. It was only when Mai accidentally kicked the panelling of one of the bookcases that she stopped.
"Hey. Yasu..." The dark haired male scampered up to her, his books tittering precariously in his arms, "Look at this."
The brunette leant down just as Yasu dropped the books on the floor. She cast his a quick glare before pressing her fingers along the wood moulding of the inbuilt bookcase. Yasu knocked on it, hearing the hollow echo from it. They shared a look, both actively trying to find a way to open the panel. It was Yasu that found the cracked corner, the panel having obviously been opened before. Together, they pulled and pried at it and finally, it gave way.
They fell backwards, landing heavily against the books Yasu had dropped as the panel landed on them. With a dazed grunt, Mai pushed it off, letting Yasu take the weight of it as she crawled to the spot in the wall. She pulled a torch from her pocket and peered into the newly revealed opening. It looked like a tunnel of sorts, deep and dark and big enough that the only way through was to crawl. But what drew Mai's attention the most was the skull that seemed to stare straight at her. And beside it, was a scroll. Dusty and dirty, is seemed to have brown flecks on it. With a carefully look around the small tunnel, the brunette reached forward and grabbed the scroll, gingerly pulling it from its hiding place.
"Yasu, cover the hole back up." Was all she said as she placed the scroll on the table, fighting her urge to read it at that very moment as Kimiko walked in.
"Lunch is ready." The woman said, motioning for them to follow her just as Monk and Ayako returned to the foyer, their camera's all in locations specified by Lin.
"You guys go ahead." Mai encouraged them, tucking the scroll into her jacket on the table, "I'll grab Naru."
With nods from the team, the brunette watched them leave and she walked towards her boss. His skin seemed to glow with a sheen of sweat, his eye brows knitted together as if in pain. Mai couldn't help but feel guilty. "It's my fault your like this Naru." She whispered. Taking hold of his hands. She focused, allowing her abilities to rise up and wash over them, forcing the dark haired male's psychometry below the surface and behind an imaginary wall. Once she was sure he had settled, she woke him gently, allowing him to wake up properly before guiding him from the room.
