A month passed. It was their first month as a couple. As the trio began working together, the doppleganger began to appear more and more. It worried Koemi, but the more nothing happened, the less she thought about it.
Koemi peered around the new case's house, an old Victorian style home in the heart of England. Beside her was a woman dressed in all pink.
Eugene bounced to stand beside the primly dressed lady. "Madoka, this is our friend Koemi Walker. She's a—."
"I'm a rogue witch," Koemi interrupted, sticking her hand out and gauging Madoka's reaction to her introduction. To her surprise, Madoka's handshake was just as firm, if not firmer than her own.
"It's nice to meet you at last, Koemi. I'm Madoka Mori. If I'm not mistaken, you're Japanaese?"
"I am." Koemi said, smiling.
"I hear you're Oliver's girlfriend," she nudged the teen playfully.
Koemi shrugged. "It's not really exclusive."
"But more than one date? I'm surprised! He's such a rude kid!" she giggled brightly.
"He's pretty sweet once you get to know him," Koemi shrugged.
Eugene kicked at the ground awkwardly.
"I think it's nice!" She purred happily, adjusting her pink headband.
"Yeah, okay. Moving on." Eugene took Koemi's hand. "We have to go! By, Madoka!"
Koemi looked at him quizzically. "So she's your teacher?"
"Our real one," Oliver appeared in front of her, waving at Madoka as he passed. "She's taught us all we know about ghost hunting."
"And Lin was just hired by her to watch Oliver's qiqong," Gene added.
Koemi nodded and pulled her cloak around her as they entered the house. There was something living in the basement of this home, and they were determined to find out what before it was exorcised.
"I bet it's a demon." She flounced up the stairs and into the evacuated home.
"There were no deaths," Oliver said. "Doesn't make sense."
"It can be summoned, fetus face." She stuck her tongue out at him, wiggling her hips.
He kissed the tip of her tongue, making Eugene incredibly uncomfortable. "Can you exorcise a demon?"
"Not directly," she decided. "See, Wiccans don't directly believe in demons. Just negativity. It's a bit tougher to do than the average exorcism, but it works. I need to gather some supplies."
"It's all we've got going for us." Eugene agreed. "All I know is that it's evil. It wants you dead."
Koemi shrugs. "So does everything else in the universe."
In an hour, after gathering some supplies, Koemi and Oliver were ready to attempt the exorcism.
Koemi's teeth gleamed in the darkness as she grinned, examining the house.
"Be careful," Naru ordered. "Don't do anything stupider than usual.
Koemi gave a throaty chuckle and gracefully sat down beside him in the basement. "You're the stupid one, fetus face."
He met the insult with a possessive kiss and smirked at her surprise. "What? A man can't kiss his girlfriend?"
"You're just a boy," she told him, regaining her sense. "A boy with the heart of a fetus." She popped the hood of her long blue cloak and stood. "You aren't Wiccan, but you'll do. I need you right now."
"I bet you do," he flirted. At her scowl, he stood. "What do you need me for?"
"This is Round One of exorcism," she instructed. "You're going to say, 'revive the spirit, revive the soul. I clear you of your evil toll. Let the light shine within, I clear you of your evil sin.'"
"Okay." He repeated the short spell in his head to commit it to memory.
She checked her watch before taking it off. She picked up a wooden broom and went through the motions of sweeping without actually touching the ground. "With this broom, tool of my will, I do cleanse, purify and prepare this space. From this circle now I banish all fear, malice and misfortune, that this circle may be a fit meeting place for gods and men, as I do will, so mote it be." She turned back to Oliver. "Come now, Naru." She brought him and clutched both his hands in hers. A crystal ball sat on the ground, and a fluorite stone.
Together they chanted, "Revive the spirit, revive the soul. I clear you of your evil toll. Let the light shine within, I clear you of your evil sin."
The room rattled and she set out to one of the corners of the room, wielding cinnamon incense as she went. She lit it and walked to the opposite wall. "earth and air, purify good, blow away evil." She let the incense billow out smoke before drawing a start with a circle around it. When it was complete, she stabbed it through with it's maker. She walked to the southeast corner of the room; somehow knowing exactly where she was needed. "Air and fire, blow away evil, burn away pain." She remade the smoky pentagram and stabbed it again through the center. She walked sharply to the west. "Fire and water, burn away pain, wash away fear." The longer she chanted, the more her skin seemed to glow in the darkness.
A shadow formed in the northwest corner, glaring at Koemi. "Kill…" it wheezed, trembling as it inhaled and exhaled.
Naru knew better than to interrupt her. Instead, he knocked on the wall three times. A code she had come up with while they were working together on past cases.
Koemi walked directly into the apparition. "Water and earth, wash away fear, bury all negativity, purify to good." Her eyes lost their color, turning solid white as she faced off with the evil being. "As Above," she hissed, her voice changing frequencies. "So Below."
The creature screamed, trying to escape as Koemi's hands wrapped around it's wrinkled neck. This was a demon, no longer human. "So mote it be." A white light blossomed out of her, and he knew. She was possessed by something greater than herself.
Then as the light grew, a gentle tinkling filled the air. Darkness surrounded him. Silence. It was completely black, and no sounds escaped. The monster was gone, thankfully…but Koemi was too. She had simply…disappeared.
Oliver stood shakily, reaching out with his presence to try and sense her. "Koemi," his voice cracked with fear
Eugene stumbled down the stairs. "I saw the light. Is everything…?" He looked around. "Where is she?"
Oliver stood and searched blindly for her, flicking on the light. "She just disappeared," his voice cracked again. Grief was setting in. What would he tell Kazumi? What could he possibly say that would justify losing Koemi?
Another month passed. Kazumi had moved back to Japan with his children after the grief of losing Hua became too much. She had died of blood loss after birthing her twin girls, Asuka and Ming.
Eugene was in Japan for the time being as well, studying Shinto exorcism.
Oliver rolled out of bed, feeling nothing. It was three in the afternoon, the sun already sinking out of the middle of the sky. As he pulled on his brother's shirt, a vision came to him.
Eugene was walking down the road when a red car hit him. Panicking, the driver covered him in a golden foil and threw him in the lake, weighting him so that he would drown.
The vision went green. Eugene was dead.
Koemi was gone.
Oliver sank to the floor, clutching his head and throwing the shirt from him. "No," he screamed, drawing the attention of his parents. A broken sob escaped his lips.
Some time later
Following his hearing, he walked into a dark classroom and flicked the lights on. Several girls screamed, flinching away from him. Immediately, two of the three ran to him.
"Sorry," his expression was blank. "the lights were out so I thought nobody was here until I heard voices."
There was one girl, whoever, who stayed back. He smiled softly, though his eyes were serious.
"What's your name, senpai?" One of the girls demanded.
"Shibuya," he said. "Shibuya Kazuya."