Disclaimer: Insert standard disclaimers here. I do not own Ghost Hunt, etc.
Blind Sight
Sunday
November 19
Day 3
9:30 AM
Mai sat at the table in the main room of the house, her head in her arms. The screaming had gotten even louder last night, and it had given her a throbbing headache that hadn't abated since. Mamori was sitting next to her wearing headphones, her head leaned back and her eyes closed.
Naru came down the stairs with Lin and Akiyuki. The latter looked as tired as Mai felt. There were dark rings under her eyes and her already pale skin seemed to have lost still more of its color. There was a knock at the door, and she went to get it.
She came back a moment later with Masako, who had her smile hidden behind a dark blue kimono sleeve. Mai, already in a disagreeable sort of mood, glared at her. Masako simply smirked superiorly and promptly went to Naru's side. "Did you need me to look for spirits, Naru?" she asked sweetly.
Naru pointed at Mamori, quietly oblivious of their new guest. "Look around her. You should see the spirit of a woman."
Masako's smile lessened slightly at Naru's typical cold demeanor, but she dutifully examined the space around Mamori. There was a long, empty pause, and then Masako announced. "I do see a woman's spirit. But she won't hurt the girl. She adores her."
"What about the rest of us?" Naru asked, "Is she paying attention to you or Mai?"
"No," Masako shook her head. "She's completely oblivious . . ." Akiyuki sat down heavily next to her sister, who still didn't notice.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Akiyuki said, her clean, polite voice gaining an irritated edge, "Why can't we just get rid of it?"
"The spirit is connected to your sister," Naru said, "Exorcising spirits bound to people carelessly can cause harm to the target." Akiyuki was silent for a moment, and then she stood.
"I see, that's unfortunate. Then, I'm going back upstairs. I'll send Baa-san down in a bit, and she will answer any questions you may have," and with a swish, she vanished up the narrow staircase.
What's eating her? Mai wondered. Akiyuki had been unwaveringly polite since their arrival, no matter what intrusive and blunt questions Naru and Lin had assaulted her with. She'd taken everything that this bizarre situation had thrown at her without twitching, but now she seemed to have started acting like a wounded animal – snapping at anyone who wasn't careful.
True to her word, however, she sent Hitotose down the stairs. Hitotose greeted Masako graciously. "Would you like to talk to Mamori-chan?" she asked, "I'm sorry. She mainly relies on her hearing, so wearing earphones makes her completely oblivious . . ." she walked over and tapped Mamori on her shoulder.
Masako blinked in shock and recoiled back suddenly. "Get back!" she shreiked at Hitotose, who turned and looked at her in confusion. "That spirit . . . its attitude changed drastically when you came near it," Masako explained, her voice shaking. "It's stronger now, and very angry."
Hitotose's hand unconsciously rose to her throat and she took a few steps back. Mamori paused the MP3 player and pulled the earphones down around her neck. "Yes?" she asked, blissfully unaware of the atmosphere around her.
Masako examined the air around Mamori again. "It's back to normal again. How rare, to find a spirit so talented in masking its power . . ." Abruptly, Masako stopped. "If it can change so dramatically, it's hard to say how powerful it really is by myself," she frowned in distaste, and shot Mai one quick, reluctnat glance. "Can you see it?" she asked.
Mai looked closely where Masako had been watching before. At first, she saw nothing out of the ordinary, so she shook her head. Masako turned to Naru, who started to fill her in on the details of the case.
Part way through Naru's explanation, Mai zoned out. She stared around Mamori, who was sitting quietly, also listening to Naru. As Mai watched, she felt a strange, icy atmosphere around her.
She blinked, and shivered. For a second she thought she had caught sight of something wrapped around Mamori's neck. The thing was slightly translucent, and looked as though it had been bleached of all color but grey. Its hair was long and dark, and the skin was literally the color of paper. It was behind Mamori, but its long white arms were twisted in a grotesque hug around her back.
Mai caught her breath as she watched the figure that appeared to be a woman. It had to be the spirit of Mamori's mother, she decided, the same one Masako had seen. Mai turned to tell Naru that she could see it, too, and gasped to herself. The world swayed around her turned into dark shades of grey, and the people in the room were frozen in place. Masako was smiling behind the wing-like sleeve of her kimono as Naru, mouth partially open in speech, held up a page he'd never finished turning. Bou-san, she saw, was poised in midair, coming down the stairs, and Mamori sat, statue-like and oblivious to the ever-clearer ghost clinging to her neck.
Mai spun around, desperately, looking for someone else still moving, but found none. As she looked toward the café, outside, she caught a flicker of movement in the house and turned yet again, opening her mouth to call to them.
Her call caught harshly in her throat as she saw what had moved. It was the ghost, and it had turned to face her. Its eyes were big, empty holes, filled with a mesmerizing misty blue, the only color Mai could see in the world. Mai gulped as it unlatched itself from Mamori and slowly drifted towards her. For a moment, Mai stood frozen in place as it continued towards her at a steady pace.
Mai's mind was screaming at her to run, but her legs stiffened in terror and her shoes felt like they had been stuck to the ground with powerful magnets. All she managed was a single, stumbling, step backwards before the empty-eyed woman reached her.
The ghost leaned in towards and Mai tried to bring her hands together to use Bou-san's mantra, but no sound came out of her throat. The ghost slowly lifted one white hand, and delicately, deliberately, put it on the side of her face.
This time, Mai was able to scream.
"Mai!"
It's Bou-san, Mai acknowledged with relief. He's here. Mai felt her head be lifted up by large hands, and saw Bou-san leaning over her through blurry eyes. She blinked a few times, and slowly sat up.
"It was just a dream," she sighed in relief, and set her head in one hand.
"Are you okay?" Bou-san said anxiously. "You just suddenly collapsed for no reason."
Mai nodded, quickly regaining her grip on reality. "I'm okay," she reassured him, as well as the others who had gathered around her. "I think I saw it. The spirit, I mean."
"What sort of impression did you get from it?" Naru asked.
"It was really scary," Mai said instantly. But, as she thought about it, it didn't really seem like the spirit had meant her any harm. It had touched her, but it hadn't hurt her at all. "But… it didn't try to kill me or anything. It just looked . . . you know. Eerie."
"I see," Naru said raising his eyebrows condescendingly at her vague description, and turned away, losing himself in his contemplations.
"Maybe you should rest for a while, Mai," Bou-san said. "We're not really doing much right now."
Mai hesitated for a moment, because she wanted to know what was going on, but as the adrenaline from her dream receded from her veins, she decided that Bou-san was right. "Yeah," Mai said, "I'll just relax in the base for awhile." She stood up, and as she walked past Mamori, she couldn't help sneaking a last glance at the air around her neck.
There was nothing there.
As Mai walked down the hallway, she saw the door to Akiyuki's room was open. She stopped, and then tentatively walked towards the room. She peeked tentatively around the door frame and saw Akiyuki sitting on her bed, flipping through a book. When Mai entered, she looked up.
"Can I help you?" she said with a sigh, closing the book, "Does Shibuya-san need me for something?"
"Umm, no," Mai said, "I just wanted to make sure everything was alright. You seemed upset."
"How would you feel if you were told your mother killed your grandmother, strangled your aunt, started throwing things at customers, and is haunting your younger sister?" Akiyuki snapped, "Of course I'm upset."
"Oh," Mai said, thinking that maybe she should have just gone straight to the base and taking a step back. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."
"It's fine," Akiyuki sighed, leaning back and rubbing her head, "I shouldn't be so irritable. You're only trying to help, after all. But I'm exhausted from all of the noises at night, and this is all a little hard for me to deal with. I should be the one apologizing."
Mai help up her hands, surprised by Akiyuki's sudden change of attitude, "No, it's okay. This must be stressful. My mother is dead, too, and I don't know what I'd do if she came back as a poltergeist."
Akiyuki managed a small smile. "I should apologize to Shibuya-san, too, I suppose. I was rather short with him earlier."
"You don't need to," Mai said after a moment, giving her a sheepish grin, "It'll do him good to have someone treat him like he's not the center of the universe."
"Is that really okay?" Akiyuki said, looking surprised.
Mai grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. "You bet!" Akiyuki smiled again, slightly bigger this time.
"Mai," she said, suddenly sounding serious, "What do you think is going to happen now?"
"I don't know," Mai admitted, "Naru didn't really tell me anything. I guess we've got to try to exorcise the spirit, but I have no idea how he's planning to do that."
"But it's dangerous as long as the spirit is attached to Mamori, right?" Akiyuki said, "So first he would need to sever that connection, right?"
"That's right," Mai agreed, tapping one fist into her other hand, "But . . . how can he do that? It's connected to Mamori because she's her daughter, right? It's not like he can change that . . ."
"I don't know," Akiyuki said, picking up her book, "That's your job to find out, isn't it? I do know a few things, though. First, we never experienced anything supernatural until we moved here. Second, my father never remarried, so we grew up without any kind of a mother figure. Third, my mother was very protective, as you can probably tell. I'm afraid that's all I'm able to tell you."
"Hmm . . ." Mai said, standing, "Well, thank you for the information, I guess. We'll do our best."
Akiyuki gave her another, slightly forced looking smile and Mai left the room. She went directly to the base this time, sat at the table with her head in her arms again, and tried to think about what she could possibly do to help, but her mind kept running in circles, and every time she kept coming up with the same answer – there was nothing she could do, except to wait for Naru to do something.
In the interest of trying to spur him into action, Mai abandoned her position at the table to return downstairs.
" . . . causing it to become more violent," Mai heard Naru say as she came down the stairs. "That's what's most likely, anyway."
Mai quietly sat down next to Bou-san on the couch, listening. Naru gave her a slight nod as she came down, acknowledging her presence.
"According to Masako, the spirit seems to have a violent reaction to Hitotose. I would like Masako to watch the spirit's reaction to the rest of us, and anyone that it rejects will have to be removed from Mamori-san's presence, at least temporarily. I'll figure out what is causing it to become violent, and can work in various different directions depending on that data." Naru explained in a slightly bored tone of voice.
Mai was glad that he was explaining what he was doing at all, but still wishing that he would say things like 'we'll figure out what is causing to become violent,' and include the rest of them a bit more, but decided that she ought to at least be grateful for any improvement in treating other people as equals.
Mamori, looking horribly vulnerable and out of her depth, stood awkwardly in by the room as the members of SPR approached her one by one. Lin had retrieved Akiyuki from her room, and she was the first one to approach.
"It actually seems to like her," Masako said, "It seems happier when she's around." Naru nodded, and approached Mamori next. "No reaction," was Masako's verdict.
Mai stepped forward next. Masako paused for a moment, looking at something behind Mamori nobody else could see and Mai repressed a shudder, remembering the empty-eyed shadow. "No reaction to her, either," Masako announced.
Mai stepped away, and John came forward next. "No reaction," came the words again, but this time, it wasn't Masako speaking. It was Akiyuki.
"How can you tell?" Masako said with a frown. "Are you physic?"
"No," Akiyuki said, shaking her head neatly, "I'm guessing. And I'm guessing that the spirit will get angry at everybody else. That is to say," she explained with a sigh, "it will get angry at all the adults."
"What makes you say that?" Naru said his interest spiking.
"I told Mai earlier," Akiyuki said, "My mother – our mother – was extremely protective. She didn't like leaving us with other adults. The only people whose house I was ever allowed to visit by myself as a child was our neighbor's, and Otou-san had to force that one. If that really is Okaa-san's spirit, she'll dislike the adults, but have no problem with people under the age of about 18. Or," she said, flicking a glance at John, "people that look under 18, as the case may be."
"Well, we'll see if you're right," Ayako said slightly petulantly, walking up next to Mamori. Instantly, Masako took a step back.
"Get away," Masako said, "It's really angry. As angry as it was when Hitotose-san came to close."
"I told you," Akiyuki said quietly. Lin and Bou-san also approached Mamori, and Akiyuki's predictions were quickly proved to be accurate. Her face had taken on a grim quality that, combined with her pale complexion, had created a rather ominous expression.
Naru looked at her, ignoring her apparent discomfort. "Is there anything else you've neglected to mention that would be useful?" he said, apparently slight irritated about having been left out of Akiyuki's critical bit of information. She shook her head.
"That's your job, isn't it?" she said, "You know what's causing it and what makes it angry. I just want it to leave."
"The only person here that doesn't cause the spirit to react and has the ability to exorcise is John," Naru said, deciding to ignore Akiyuki's comment, "Ayako, Bou-san, Lin, I want you leave the building before and during the exorcism. The less threatened the spirit feels, the easier it will be to take it by surprise. That obviously goes for you as well, Hitotose-san. You should be able to come back to the house by tonight."
"Got it," Bou-san said with a firm nod. "When is John performing the exorcism?"
"Tonight," Naru said, "Which means that you should get your things, and leave as soon as possible." Lin, having already predicted what Naru wanted, was already halfway up the stairs. After a moment, Bou-san followed, and after some grumbling about getting kicked out, Ayako continued after.
Mai studied her hands for a moment, glancing out the window in an attempt to avoid the heavy atmosphere that had settled over the silence. The air had turned an eerie yellowish color, the way it does before a thunderstorm. She was confused, still no really following Naru's logic.
John stood in front of a passive-looking Mamori, ready to perform the exorcism as soon as Naru gave the word. Bou-san and Lin came down, Bou-san waving and saying, "We'll stay nearby. See you later, Mai," he called to her. Mai cheerily waved back at him trying to ignore the sinking feeling that had settled like a rock in the pit of her stomach.
Ayako, who had more stuff to collect, took a little longer, and Hitotose had decided to wait for her. Lin and Bou-san had already left the time Ayako came down. As she passed John and Mamori, the latter stepped out and grabbed her wrist, Mamori's opposite hand coming down in a hard slap against the side of Ayako's face.
Recoiling in shock, Ayako dropped her bags and jerked her hand away from Mamori, stepping frantically backward. Before anyone had full grasped what happened, a cold, clear voice filled the room. "Just what," Mamori said, "do you think you're trying to do?" The casual, slurred accent that had Mamori's voice so different from her sister's had completely disappeared and was replaced by an accent less, icy tone.
Her eyes opened from their usual lightly curved shut position, and they were a dark, twisting blue. "Why are you trying to keep me from protecting her?" she said, stepping forward angrily. "She's my child! You're just a bunch of strangers we hadn't known before this week. If I leave now, she'll start acting like her!" She viciously stabbed a finger in the directions of a shocked-looking Hitotose, who was staring at Mamori as though she was a ghost. "My Mamori-chan has her own life and her own problems to overcome! She absolutely cannot get mixed up in the trash that you and Okaa-san did. Nobody but me should be allowed to take care of her! But since I'm . . . . like this, her sister will. But not you, Nee-san, and definitely none of you random children."
The ghost used Mamori's hands to punctuate her movements, angrily cutting swaths through the air as she spoke fiercely and passionately.
"John," Naru said. His voice was low, as though he were trying to keep the ghost from paying too much attention to him. Mai recovering from the shock and processing what she'd seen, marched in front of Mamori's possessed body and looked straight at the sharp, unnatural blue eyes.
"Why not?" Mai said, trying to reason with the angry spirit. "Hitotose-san seems like a very good person. She'll take good care of Mamori, so why can't you rest in peace."
"Why can't you keep your nose out of adult's business?" snapped the voice of the spirit. "You don't know anything. You only met Hitotose-san," she snarled the name sarcastically, "A few days ago. I grew up with her. She's irresponsible, unrealistic, and an incessant idealist. Just like you." As the ghost said that last sentence, she lifted Mamori's arm up, and a dark shadow slunk from the hand, wrapping itself tightly around Mai's throat.
Instantly, Mai's hands flew to her neck, scrabbling against the insubstantial force tightening itself around her. She groped at the air around her throat as she became unable to breathe.
"Mai!" she heard John's voice in the background, but his voice was starting to dim. She wasn't sure how much time had passed since she had stopped breathing, but she fought desperately and uselessly to free her throat.
Her vision started to cloud, and she felt her strength seep from her arms. I don't want to die like this, she thought desperately, blindly reaching out, Naru!
As if on cue, the force around Mai's neck abruptly released itself with a hiss of air, and as Mai's knees buckled underneath her, she saw Mamori spin sideways and crumple to the background. Naru was standing in front of her, one hand out where Mamori used to be standing. He looked pale, and Mai scrambled to her feet to see what was wrong.
"Naru?" she asked, setting one hand on the top of his arm, trying to steady him. "What were you thinking! Are you alright?" He shook her hand off.
"I'm fine," he carefully keeping his voice indifferent, but he was shaking slightly. Mai reached to help him again, automatically, but reluctantly caught herself and lowered her hand after he glared at her. "Worry about yourself," he told her, and looked away. Naru sat heavily on the couch, and Bou-san and Lin rushed in the door.
"What happened?" Bou-san demanded, "We heard a huge crash . . ." he trailed off, and hurried to Mai, who was still shaking, occupying her attention. Lin went to Naru, taking his pulse and finding his results satisfactory, but he didn't look pleased.
"Sit down," he said, "Are you feeling okay?" Bou-san guided her to a cushion, and Mai took several deep breaths.
"I'm just fine," she said with a smile that felt slightly forced over her lingering fear, "Thanks to Naru."
"Naru-san, should I exorcise her now?" John said, stepping urgently towards the body of poor Mamori, who appeared to be unconscious. For a moment, it seemed to Mai that Naru was asleep, and wouldn't be able to answer, but he slowly picked his head up and nodded.
"Yes. Hurry," he said, and closed his eyes once again. As John knelt and began to slowly chant the lines of the Bible, and cast holy water over Mamori's body, the tension slid out of Naru's shoulders. He really is asleep, Mai smiled to herself. She turned to watch John, who appeared to be nearly finished. Mamori's body gave a single, violent shudder, and a smoky, amorphous form drifted in the air for a moment.
Mai braced herself, afraid the spirit would use the remains of its energy to attack them yet again, but it was unnecessary. The smoke lingered over Mamori a moment more, before turning a gentle, whitish-blue color and dissipating.
When Mai thought back on the moment later, very little had actually happened as the spirit disappeared, especially compared to the havoc that had been wreaked while it lingered. However, an uneasy atmosphere Mai hadn't noticed existed in the house seemed to dissipate as it became once again an innocent café.
"She's gone," John said softly. He shook Mamori's shoulder gently. "Are you awake?" For a moment, there was no answer, and then she stirred slightly. She held one hand out, and it brushed against John's arm, which she gently used to orient herself and sit up.
"Yes," Mamori said, "Okaa-san, she . . ." Mamori broke off, not able to articulate her thoughts. "I'm sorry," she said at last, "for causing you trouble. It's better this way."
"Thank you for your help," Akiyuki interrupted, her voice miraculously stable, despite the fact there was no color in her face, and her hands were clenched together to keep them from shaking, "This was an . . . unexpected situation, to say the least. Is Shibuya-san alright?"
Mai had anxiously kept one eye on Naru since she saw him fall asleep, and he looked okay. "I think so," she said, looking to Lin for a more concrete answer.
"He's just asleep," Len confirmed. "It seems he didn't use enough of his energy to seriously hurt him."
"I see," Akiyuki said, clearly not understand how he had used energy in the first place, "Feel free to stay here until he wakes up." Lin decided it would be best to wait, but dismissed Bou-san, Ayako, and John. Masako insisted on staying until Naru had woken, and Mai reluctantly allowed her to help put away the camera equipment.
"Get out of the way," Masako snapped at Mai as she carried a tripod out the door. Mai clenched her fist. What's her problem? Mai fumed, closing the box she was packing with unnecessary force. She continued to slam around the room for a moment, before Masako came back
"Best be more careful," Masako said, with slight superiority, "You can't pay him back if you break that equipment."
"I already know that," Mai said, shooting a glare to Masako's back. "I wouldn't be upset if it wasn't for you."
"Listen to you," Masako hissed, her voice slightly choked before clearing. "So self-important. You know Naru needs you, and you just love to abuse that. He's ready to sacrifice himself for you, and you take it for granted."
They stood in silence for a moment before Mai found the worlds to answer. "Naru . . . doesn't need me," she said.
"You're so stupid I can't even stand to be in the same room as you," Masako announced. She closed another box she'd been packing and awkwardly carried it into the hallway, leaving Mai alone with her thoughts.
Naru . . . has saved me a lot, she realized, but he'd do the same for Masako, wouldn't he? When she disappeared at the mansion with the vampire, he had her comb. Shaking her head, Mai banished the troublesome thoughts, checked the room once more for their equipment, and carried her own box onto the lower floor.
Naru, evidently recovered enough for Lin to leave him for a moment, was standing by the stairs. "You're slow," he told her, "Everyone else is already finished packing."
"Well, excuse me for being thorough," she snapped slightly, then instantly regretted it. "More importantly, are you alright?"
He turned his back to her. "Fine," he said shortly, "Don't concern yourself with it." Naru walked out the door, leaving Mai staring at the space where he'd been.
"Shouldn't you follow him?" Akiyuki asked, leaning on the doorframe to the kitchen with a small, knowing smile, calmed now that the crisis was concluded.
Mai looked at for a moment, tipped her head slightly, and then smiled back. "Yeah," she said, "Goodbye."
Akiyuki nodded, and Mai started to the door, but Mamori appeared next to her to offer a more vocal farewell. "We'll see you again, Mai! Stop by sometime, and we'll feed you!"
Mai laughed, thanked her, and exited the café to where Naru was waiting.
A/N: Finally done. Which leaves me to answer the question, what took so long? Well, for awhile I was more interested in reading than writing, so it took like 3 months for me to take this up again. And then, when I finally decided to finish it, I realized I had absolutely no idea what I was planning for the ending. I had a plan, once upon a time. I forgot it. So I struggled through writers block for awhile. And then I started high school, and with it, extensive homework. My teachers are not kind to freshmen. Which obviously slowed down the process quite a bit. So, since I figured I ought to at least publish something, I splotched this together. Sorry about the sucky ending. At least it's fairly long.