Chapter 5 I see
Day 4, 4PM
Good Lord, woman. Don't you sleep or something? Who replies to an email at 4AM in the morning? It's inhuman, Mai. Please, try to get some sleep. Shadows beneath the eye are not flattering towards your complexion, and plastic surgery is not cheap these days, despite the inelasticity of its demand.
To answer your first question: yes, Hisana is a demon. Many blue-blooded psychics carry familiars by their sides and because we control powerful demons, we also have access to their powers. It's a bit of a trend, actually, between the Five.
And in response to your second question: no, that is not Raidon's true image. Nor was the one that you inquired about in that dream. Don't ask me what he really looks like; although I see him often, he comes with a different face every time. I have not been in his physical presence for over twelve years, nor am I craving for it. He keeps himself off the media too, so you won't catch him there either.
And for your third: there are two reasons why you, as a psychic, might be dreaming of a live person and their words of guidance are actually coming to past. If it's to do with a dream experience in which the latter communicates with the subject in question by tapping into the other person's subconscious state, then theoretically, that can happen; however, that was used more often as a means of communication between certain gods and human beings. Or it could also be a manifestation of your imagination. Sometimes our mind conjures an image of a certain person or object and we use that as a source of guidance. Take for example: maybe whoever you see in your dreams happens to be the person that you view as your image of guidance. If it's like that, then it would explain the imagery of another in your mind while you sleep if that person was still alive. The second reason? Well, because that person's already dead, of course, and what you're seeing is actually their spirit.
Stay safe, and try to get some sleep.
Ayami.
They still couldn't find Shiba-san the next day.
Bou-san, Naru, Masako and Ayako had returned to the abandoned building that the girls had been found at, despite the 'NO ENTRY' tapes layered out by the police. Mai, Lin-san and Yasuhara-san had been left to the paperwork in the office. Shiba-san still hadn't been found, and Mai had tried to search for Hiroma sensei earlier that morning in the court, but she hadn't been able to find her again. She'd been exhausted all day, so they'd left her in base to go over the files.
The door creaked open and Mai looked up, suspecting that it would be Yasuhara-san who'd just returned from his quest for caffeine.
And it was, only he was also balancing a mobile phone in his hand. Mai's lips twitched as she looked back at Lin-san, wondering if he was bothered by the other boy's constant chatter.
"No, no, Domjouji-san; that simply will not do."
Mai's eyes lightened up. Ayami had called? A bright smile passed over her features as Yasuhara-san trailed into the room. "Here, Taniyama-san is right here. Would you like me to put you on speaker?"
Yasuhara-san waited for her response and Mai smiled as he set the phone onto the table and pressed the speaker button.
"Let me guess," Ayami's voice declared, her voice played by the static just a little bit. Just hearing her made Mai smiled. "Shibuya Kazuya is not in the room, if not the two of you would be hastily removing yourself from that Grinch-like creature."
Mai bit her lip to refrain from smiling. It was true that Naru didn't like Christmas, but Ayami didn't have to say it like that.
"I don't think Shibuya-san likes you very much," Yasuhara-san commented.
Ayami laughed. "Surprise, surprise. But honestly, such maturity is elicited from that intellectual figure. If he wasn't so good looking, I probably would have shot him by now. No wonder they say some geniuses are, in reality, also socially depraved."
Okay, it was definitely time to take their subject off Naru now. Yasuhara-san must have thought so too, because he changed their topic.
"Domjouji-san! Have you brought anyone else onto our plane recently?" Yasuhara-san asked casually, and Mai blinked in surprise. Who asked that?"
Ayami didn't seem to mind though. "Daily, my friend, daily. I might send one to Japan and see how your employer takes it. So how's your case going?" Ayami asked, seemingly taking a more serious note now. Mai snuck a look up at Lin-san and noted how his fingers had paused in their typing. Naru didn't like it when they discussed their cases with outsiders, and in this case, Mai had chosen to keep quiet about most aspects of it also. Should she simply tell Ayami not to worry about it? They hadn't gotten very far with this case though, and Mai knew that Ayami could definitely help them.
"And don't lie to me, Mai. Of course I know what you're case is about. I'm psychic, remember?"
Mai almost sighed. "So what do you know?"
"I've had the police forward me the files on those girls, and from what the other students say, all the girls are part of the same clique and they seem to have all argued with the teacher before going missing. That's why the police thought that the girls had originally run away. When spirits target, they tend to go for similar groups."
Mai wasn't even going to ask how Ayami managed to get her hands on confidential files.
"I can't see Shiba-san socialising with the students and he's gone too," Yasuhara-san pointed out.
"But Mai mentioned in a few emails back that that some Hitosha sensei said he had argued with the headmaster, and now, he suddenly seems to be missing too. She didn't think that that related to the case, so she had no whims on mentioning it to me at all. There are some rather obsessive spirits out there; maybe these spirits are only targeting people who seem to have disobeyed a superior or something like that. Ask that Hitosha sensei what they'd been arguing about."
"It's Hiroma sensei—" Mai began, but the other girl suddenly let out a curse in English. Mai and Yasuhara-san exchanged looks of alarm.
"I have to go; I think the lecturer's finally posting notes for the exam. I'll call you later, okay?"
Lecturer. Notes. Exam. "She called you in the middle of her lecture?" Mai asked, turning to Yasuhara-san.
Yasuhara-san smiled. "She was trying to call you, actually, but she said she couldn't get through to you."
Had she left her phone in her room again? She felt around in her pockets and realised that she had. She'd probably have to go retrieve it later, or Naru would have her head.
A rapid set of knocks were heard at the door and Mai turned over. Yasuhara-san had left the door open and now, the headmaster was standing at the door.
Mai stood up immediately. "Good afternoon, sir."
The headmaster smiled brightly, though Mai could definitely see the weariness in his eyes. "No, no, Taniyama-san. Please, sit down."
Lin-san turned towards the headmaster and Mai looked towards the senior assistant. "Is there something you needed, headmaster?" Lin-san asked stoically.
The headmaster shook his head. "No, I was just wondering how everything was going here, but everything seems to be fine. I hope the police officers didn't frighten anyone."
Yasuhara-san laughed sheepishly. "We're not on the run from the law, so they didn't scare us too much."
The headmaster smiled at his attempted joke. "Thank you for staying with us through all of this," the headmaster said. "Most people would have run by now."
"We're still here at the moment," Lin-san replied calmly.
The headmaster nodded, smiling, and Mai could see how tired he really was.
"Do you know if I could get into contact with Hiroma sensei?" Mai asked, suddenly remembering back to what Ayami had said. The headmaster looked up at her, surprised, and Mai further elaborated. "I just wanted to ask her something."
The headmaster shook his head. "I wish I could help you, Taniyama-san, but Hiroma sensei passed away a few years ago."
Her blood went cold.
"A few years ago?" Mai repeated questioningly. Then who had been the older woman that she'd seen at the courts the last two times? Absently, Mai noticed that Lin-san seemed to have paused again and Mai forced a smile on her face.
"Perhaps I'd mistaken then, sir. Thank you for that."
The headmaster nodded reluctantly and eventually dismissed himself from the room. After he'd left, Mai couldn't help but frown. She knew that she had spoken to an elder who claimed to be named Hiroma sensei, and that it hadn't been a figment of Mai's imagination.
"Perhaps she was a teacher from another school," Yasuhara-san offered, seeming to take in her expression. "Or maybe you got her name wrong."
"No," Mai said, shaking her head. "I saw her twice, and I spoke to her the second time. I don't think I would have gotten it wrong..." Her eyes cast up towards Yasuhara-san's face. "Do you think her spirit came back?"
Yasuhara-san didn't argue, but he did look doubtful. "You do look, tired, Taniyama-san. Perhaps you should try and catch a bit of sleep while you're Shibuya-kun and the others aren't here."
Oh, great. Now Yasuhara-san thought that she was odd too.
Mai's sleep actually came sooner than she thought it would. Wink caught her right as she was sitting in the middle of base, reading over the files of the girls that had gone missing. Yasuhara-san and Lin-san had eventually resumed their normal structures and she soon found herself dozing off.
Now, she found herself standing in a plateau of darkness. Nothing around her except the firefly-like wisp-o-wasps that floated practically everywhere.
Then, he appeared. As usual.
"Naru!" Mai breathed. She smiled at him and he smiled back at her gently.
"Come, Mai. Let me show you something."
She truly was going to be dreading those words. Mai smiled at him awkwardly and Naru gave her another smile, this one a little more amused.
"It's okay. This might just help you find Shiba-san though."
Shiba-san? Mai took his offered hand and he smiled. "Close your eyes."
Mai nodded, immediately heeding to his order. She felt wind pass over her body and the ground beneath her seem to feel slightly different.
"You can open your eyes now."
She did so and gasped when she saw the room around her. Everything was dark in this cellar-like area. Mai could hear water dripping from a distance, and she looked around the room. There were no windows for anyone to see anything and darkness seemed to be everywhere. On the floor, however, just a meter away from her, was Shiba-san.
He seemed to be sleeping, because Mai could see his chest rise and fall. It was dark, so she wasn't sure, but he didn't seem to be injured either. Naru nodded at her and told her to close her eyes again. Mai did so.
"Do you remember this place?" Now, they were at the courts where the girls had been found. Mai could see Ayako, Bou-san and Masako looking around the area, but none of them could see Mai.
"I wonder where Naru is." Mai looked up at him sheepishly and realised that she was talking to Naru, only the dream Naru. Was there a big difference between the dream Naru and the real Naru? Well, of course there was, but at least the dream Naru could give a tender smile. Mai could count on her five fingers how many times Shibuya Kazuya had actually cast a genuine smile.
Like the one that dream Naru was wearing now. "You don't have to call me Naru if it's confusing you," he said, smiling lightly at her. "Call me Gene."
Gene? That was a peculiar name. He really didn't have to take on a nickname to help her out, and Mai told him that.
"People call me Naru sometimes by mistake, but it's not my actual nickname either. People normally call me Gene."
Mai hadn't known anyone to call Naru 'Gene'. If Gene really was a figment of her imagination, then her imagination had just gotten a whole lot stranger. "What's your real name then?" she asked.
His eyes smiled at her still. "Eugene. Eugene Davis."
Mai's eyes snapped open instantly.
She gasped in shock and shot upright immediately. Something heavy fell off her shoulders, probably onto the ground, and Mai ignored it.
Gene? Eugene Davis? That was his name? So dream Naru wasn't actually Naru at all. How could Mai have mistaken it for two whole years? Part of her already saw Gene as a separate entity to Naru, admittedly, or she wouldn't have asked Ayami about it in her previous email, but it was something else to have her silent thoughts confirmed like that.
"What did you dream about?"
The curt, demanding tone brought Mai out of her reverie of thought and she looked towards the source of the sound. Just like that, Naru stood in the distant corner, eyeing her calmly. Mai looked around the room and realised that it was empty, bar the two of them. How long had she been like this for?
"You've been asleep for about an hour," Naru said, answering her unasked question. Mai nodded, though her body still felt groggy from lying in that angle. She shook her head, now trying to readjust her fringe so it fell out of her eyes. The sleep certainly had helped though; Mai felt a lot more refreshed. She looked down and realised that the thing that had fallen off her shoulders was Naru's coat. Mai hastily bent down and picked it up. How long had he been standing there, waiting for her to wake up?
Then, she remembered that he'd asked a question and Mai set his black coat onto the table before speaking again.
"I think I saw Shiba-san," Mai murmured. It was better to get it out before he interrogated her. "He seems to be alright. He's in a cellar or something, unconscious."
Naru nodded. "We still haven't seen any sign of him. Do you know where he was?"
Mai shook her head no. "Sorry; everything kind of flashed and I missed it. Did you want some tea? I'll make some." Mai got up before he could say no, though it was unlikely that he would. She set more tea into the empty pot and pulled out the flask that she always kept full on the side.
"And what about Hiroma sensei?"
She almost missed the pot, pouring the hot water in. "How do you know—"
"Lin told me," Naru answered. "Apparently you've been conversing with a spirit."
Mai nodded slowly. "I still don't know if she was actually a spirit," Mai reasoned.
Naru nodded towards one of the computer screens. "She is." He told her that in two words.
Mai's eyes trailed towards the screen and she looked in to see a heat generated image. It took her awhile to recognise it, seeing as the colours were different, but eventually, Mai saw that it was the garden court in the front of the school. Mai saw two human figures by that area; one had an arrow pointed at it and she saw the listing as Taniyama Mai. Next to that, there was a blue image, made out like a human, in contrast to her red. Blue, for cold. This meant that the person next to her held a significantly different heat level. And a much lower one at that.
And the only one that had stood by her that day was Hiroma sensei.
Oh god.
14th September, 2008: Yay! I finished the entire segment of this! This segment will have seven chapters and an epilogue. I think you guys might like chapter 6, but yeah. Will start on Mirror soon enough too. But anyway, cheers!
Many thanks to: Ayjah, miss koneko, Skyz Angel, Moons-chan, ONIX-21, SimplyChristine, Gabryell P, canadianviolet (Oh, you'll learn more of Ayami's and Raidon's relationship in the future. They're quite the fun couple to write about, actually, because both of them are rather comical), ChibiKari, Kay (hey! LOL glad you're liking it so far. The blue-bloods will be kept as a mystery since my cases don't exactly scream secrecy), Aoi Faith, and luna-moongoddess.