Saturday, April 14th.

Day 3… Morning.

The morning was nice and warm, a perfect day for an investigation. In the years that I had been ghost hunting I had run into many problems simply to do with the weather, it was a god send whenever you encountered good weather. Let me just say that investigating a ghost in the middle of a blizzard with a craptastic generator is not the most fun thing to do in the winter.

I was early to school that morning, shocking seeing it was a Saturday and I vary rarely was on time for anything let alone getting to school. The van was parked outside of the old school house just as Naru had said it would be the night before. Walking around the side of it I saw Naru sitting in the back with his computer out and typing away. Only this didn't look like the Naru I knew, he was wearing blue jeans with a white t-shirt covered by a black blazer… he was looking hot! And the way he was sitting there was just so not Naru as well, his shoulders were slumped and he looked relaxed.

I guess having Gene still alive had saved him form wearing all that black and looking like he had a stick shoved up his ass all the time.

"Hay Shibuya, look alive we're about to have some company." I said as I leaned on the side of the van.

"Wha….."

"Hay that some fancy equipment you got there. Looks a little high tech for some kids like you to be playing with." Said the voice of a woman standing behind Naru.

Looking up from the hansom Naru who was still bugging me with how out of character he was, I saw Ayako standing to my left with Housho not to far behind her. Love in the making if I ever saw it. Still I was a little insulted by the kid comment until I realized that to them I really was just a kid. Hell even Naru thought that.

"Um, I'm sure it looks like that Miss." Said Naru, it was in that moment that I realized this wasn't Naru, it was Gene… his twin brother which explained why I had thought there was something different about him a few moments ago. Their voices were almost the same it was uncanny only Gene's was warmer more than likely because of his happier disposition, it sounded like honey where Naru's voice sounded like ice.

"And who might you be?" the voice of the real Naru came from just the other side of the van I was standing next to. I couldn't help but smile as he walked over to stand beside his brother, who was so very much alive thanks to my wonderful Yukimaru. They looked like mirror images of each other, the only thing different about then was that Naru was wearing a suit and Gene wasn't, it was so shocking. I remember the first and only time I had seen them standing next to each other like this, was in a photo that Naru had given to me. It was like that now and just for a moment I started to cry. These were two people that were never meant to be separated you could see it in the way they stood together each looking after the other.

"I'm Matsusaki Ayako, the shrine maiden. The principal said he wasn't sure about you, so he called me in to drive out the spirits." She said, her smirk was really starting to annoy me. I mean I know that Ayako has some real awesome powers, not like Naru and Gene or Lin for that matter but in the city with all the pollution and so few trees she was all but useless. This was going to be a long case.

"And here I was thinking that only chaste virgins could become shrine maidens." There was the sarcastic response that I was looking forward to Naru was so predictable some times, Gene looked shocked for a moment giving his brother some kind of look I had never seen before, I think it was distaste.

"Brother was that necessary?" Gene asked

"Yes it was Gene." Naru informed his brother as if he were talking about the weather.

Monk and I just laughed in the background; I couldn't help but want to hug Naru just for saying that even if Gene wasn't too thrilled with him. Rude though it was Ayako was the one who was rude first. Of all the people that I had watched die in my past life I couldn't help but think that Naru was the one I missed the most he was my best friend and often the rock that grounded me if Lin wasn't around.

"I see, and your point?" Ayako snarled in annoyance at us.

As Naru opened his mouth I saw Gene from the corner of my eye placing his hands over his eyes as if to hid from what he knew his brother was about to say.

"Well at the very least, I'd say that you're getting a little old to be calling yourself a maiden don't you think?" Naru responded in the same monotone as before.

"I see aren't you just a funny little smart ass!" she said still glaring though if you asked me the embarrassed blush on her face ruined the effect she was going for.

After having gotten all the answers he could from Ayako, Naru turned his attention to Monk who like me was still laughing.

"And you are?"

"Hum?"

"I would guess you're to intelligent to be the 'shrine maidens' assistant."

"Your right I'm a monk from the Koyasen sect, my name is Takigawa Housho." Said Monk still smiling at us, they wouldn't be smiling once Naru finished this case.

"And when did the start allowing Monks to start sporting such long hair?" questioned Naru his eyebrow raised as he waited for the answer.

Leave it to Naru to alienate everyone but his brother and from the looks that Gene was giving him he was going a pretty good job of that as well.

"Brother! Stop being an ass already!" hissed Gene as she stood up looking like he was going to start apologizing form his brother.

"He's an apostate monk." Ayako said smirking at the now distressed Monk.

I couldn't blame poor Housho at all, now there were two people ganging up on him. Poor Monk he looked so lost as he stood there defending himself to us, pulling at his long hair and cringing.

"Hay I'm just on a little down time from the temple! At any rate, play times over kids. You should just pack up and go home to your parents. These things can get dangerous and there's not telling who could get hurt." Monk said his eyes boring into Naru, Gene and I as if to say there we were the ones that were going to end up hurt. As if! With all my years of knowledge and experience I was more prepared to deal with these things than any of them were, so no I wasn't going anywhere and knowing Naru he wasn't going to either.

Poor, poor Monk, the guy was going to have to learn a lot if he thought that was going to get rid of me let alone Naru.

"Look who's talking, a rocker wanabe Monk on the side and a shrine maiden who's as useful as a wet blanket on a cold day. I think I'm going to put my money on the winning horse, that being Shibuya and his brother… who I haven't actually meet by the way. I'm Mai it's nice to meet you Gene was it?" Glaring at the two adults standing before me and then grinning at Gene.

The response form everyone was more than amusing, as I watched Gene smiled and nodded to me in introduction. The other two were staring at me like I was a walking talking dead person that they didn't know what to do with.

I looked over to Naru only to find him staring at me with a rather cute puzzled look on his face.

"Shibuya baby you should frown like that, it'll ruin that pretty face of yours. And I know you don't want that." I said smiling all the more as Naru became his emotionless self once more.

"True." He mumbled back to me as he ignored everyone to take the laptop from Gene and look through the data on it. Monk and Ayako where so shocked by my little performance they were momentarily speechless, now if only they would stay that way from the rest of the case.

"You are going over the data from yesterday?" I asked.

"Yes, thought there doesn't appear to be anything of interest happening here yet." Naru responded not looking up from the computer once.

"Well from what I've read, spirits either become very shy or increasingly aggressive once outsiders enter into their haunts right? So that's not so surprising looks like we have a shy little ghost on our hands here." I had already let slip that I knew something about the paranormal so I was happy with the answer I gave it didn't give too much away yet it help cement that fact that I was knowledgeable in the supernatural as well. Yay if I didn't get my old job back I was going to kill Naru myself.

"Yes again, we can't rule out the building being haunted. You were telling the truth when you said you had studied ghost hunting? Here I was thinking you were just trying to empress me." Naru said smirking at me yet with this interested look as if he were trying to figure me out without actually having to ask, which wasn't going to happen I wanted to keep most of my secrets if I could and if I couldn't then it wasn't happening for at least a year.

"Brother!" Gene hissed again in shock. "What the hell you stupid nerd, you can't just say things like that to girls!"

"Wrong girl there Shibuya. If you wanted someone interested in the paranormal and obsessed with getting attention, you should go find Karoda. If she isn't already on her way here anyway." I said smiling, I had just given him the largest piece of the puzzle I wonder what he would do with it.

"Why would she be coming here?" asked Monk with a confused look in his face. Up until that point I had all but forgotten that they were there… oops.

"Oh you guys are still here? Anyways Karoda like to think that she a physic but personally I'd say that she more on the latent side of the power spectrum. She'll come by to tell us all about the injured spirits she see here that died in the war. Never mind that the building itself has never been used as a hospital nor has anything war related ever happened in the past on the property. No one's ever told her that its ok if you can't see anything." I said sadly.

"Mai."

"Yes, Shibuya?" I was smiling again.

"Are you trying to be subtle in telling me that you've already investigated this haunting?" I couldn't express to you just how much I wanted to say both yes and no at that moment. It was like both answers were playing tug of war in my head.

But that to say?

In the end I didn't have to say anything. Good old Karoda had decided to make her appearance and I couldn't have been happier then I was at that moment. I felt bad for a moment when I found myself thinking that the girl had her uses and popping up randomly was defiantly one of them.

"Oh thank goodness you're here! These spirits have been driving me crazy!" see told you good old Karoda; she's got your back even if she doesn't know it! "You see I'm spiritually sensitive and what with all the ghost stories Mai and her friends like telling, they're drawing spirits into the school and on top of that I'm positive that this building was used as a hospital in the war. There are just far too many wounded spirits here to say otherwise."

I couldn't help but to grin like the Cheshire cat at the looks everyone was giving me. Naru however was his same old self though I could tell that he was intrigued by what was happening.

"Now people it time to look smart! Your employers coming this way." I sang out as I spotted the principal and john walking this way.

"Why good morning it's nice to see you all here so early let me introduce the last investigator here to help. Everyone this is Father Brown. He's from overseas." Said the principal while smiling encouragingly to john.

"Good day mates." Said the sunny priest in his heavily accented voice.

Ayako started to laugh at him the moment he said that personally I thought it was very rude of her. "Tell me kid you looking for the sandbox?" she screeched out in her laugher, I couldn't help but glare at her she was being such a bitch!

"Actually I'm here because I practice the ancient art of exorcism." Said the blonde. "I'm new to japan as I'm from the outback of Australia, it's nice to meet you all." With that he gave a proper bow to all of us and I couldn't help thinking that Ayako didn't deserve it.

"I was under the impression that only those ordained by the Catholic Church could be exorcists." Said the warm honey voice of Gene as he finally started to partake in the conversation.

"True." Agreed Naru.

"Your both correct, I only just finished my apprenticeship with the bishop, I'm 19" said a laughing John.

"Wow you must be really good at what you do!" said Karoda.

"Oh shut up little girl! I've already got you pegged as a grandstander get lost! We don't need your type around here driving us all crazy." Ayako snarled in annoyance, why she was so annoyed was anyone's guess. But me, my guess was mental instability.

"Grandstander! I'll have you know I'm a legitimate physic and I'll tell you right now you'll never be able to get rid of this spirit!" yelled Karoda as she turned tail and ran away. I couldn't feel it in me to feel sorry for either of them so I just surged at Gene with a smile.

"Well that was interesting but shouldn't we get to work now Naru?" I asked as Gene snorted and Naru rounded on me with a look of shock.

"What the hell did you just call me!" he snapped.

Ok now I was confused, Gene was sitting right thee so it wasn't that his brother had just died and I was calling him a name that said dead brother called him, what set that off I wonder?

"what someone else called you Naru? Well of course they did I couldn't have been the first person to come up with a nickname like Naru the Narcissist!" I snickered and to my shock so did Gene.

"Naru the Narcissist! I love it!" Gene hooted out as he kept on laughing at his brother.

"Naru the Narcissist? Hum… I don't like it." He said as he started to walk to the old building, for some reason we all fallowed.

"Well that's the beautiful thing about a nickname Naru! It doesn't matter if you like it or not it's still going to be said! Sorry Shibuya but from this moment on you will forever be known as Naru." I sang to the now vary annoyed ghost hunter.

"Whatever!" he mumbled and walked into the base room to look at the monitors, Gene was leaning on the doorframe he was laughing so much.

"Ha, Shibuya kid you need to keep this little firecracker around she's going to turn out as one hell of a woman!" said Monk as he ruffled my short hair.

"Why thank you Monk! However let it stand known that this 'little firecracker' as you said will never be your woman!" I said sweetly trying not to laugh at the look on Monks face as he withdrew his hand from my head like it had been burnt. Gene, poor Gene I didn't think his sense of humor was this good the guy was cracking up I think he might just have cracked a rib.

"Mistress, you're rather evil today." Whispered Yukimaru from his hidden place. The little spirit was laughing along with Gene and John. Oh this was starting to shape up to be a very long and amusing case so far.