Slow update is slow. I apologize. There has been a lot going on in my life. I just graduated from college (YAY!) but now I'm going to graduate school (Ugh...) HOWEVER, I will be finishing this story even if it takes forever, of that you have my promise. So please wait patiently and for those that have already done so...THANK YOU! Enjoy the new chapter and look for more, hopefully within the coming weeks.

"Miwako!" Mai rushed forward as the woman began to fall into a faint. She barely made it before the girl would have hit the ground. She helped her sit down on the small platform porch that was off the main lobby looking out over the garden. She was glad to see Miwako had already regained consciousness. Her color was still very low and there were tears in her eyes as she stared passed Mai and where the ghost had been only moments before.

"Miwako, are you alright? Please, say something!" Mai told her. She watched as the older girl blinked before focusing on her. Mai gave her a comforting smile causing Miwako's lips spread into a trembling smile. She watched as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. She waited for her to say something.

"I never thought I would hear her voice again. It's been so long since I've heard mother speak." Miwako whispered. Mai gently took her hand as she felt her own eyes well. She understood what the other girl was talking about. She smiled as Miwako met her eyes surprised at the touch.

"I understand. I lost both my parents when I was young. I would give anything to hear them again. We are going to do everything we can to help your mother, I promise." Mai whispered. Miwako nodded as she gave Mai a wavering smile. Mai returned the smile as she realized how much it had to have taken for the girl to smile in light of what had just happened.

"I don't need for you to do this for me or even for Yumi. Please do it for my grandmother. She thinks mother is doing this because she's mad at us for what happened and hates us. Please show my grandmother that's not true." Miwako whispered. Mai nodded with a small smile. She stood up with Miwako ready to catch the girl if she looked unsteady on her feet.

"I'm going to call Yumi to see how grandmother is doing. She agreed to stay with her while I came here to finish up some business things. I'll be returning to the hospital in the morning. Also, I've set up another room for you to stay in. It's downstairs in the left wing. It's the only door downstairs on that wing. If you need anything please call us. " Miwako told her. Mai blinked as she realized what that particular statement meant.

"You're going to leave us alone in the Ryokan? I mean…we won't do anything but that certainly is a lot of trust in people you barely know." Mai said. Miwako laughed before nodding with a smile on her face. Mai blinked as she realized she could see true happiness in the girl's smile. It warmed her heart to see the emotion.

"Yumi trusts Masako so I will trust all of you. I want you to help mother." she said. Mai nodded before her ears perked up as she heard Takigawa calling for her. Miwako bowed before leaving her alone in the garden. Mai sighed as she realized things had just gotten much more complicated than she had anticipated.

'Isn't that how it usually goes, though? When has there ever been a case that was simple?' she asked herself with a sheepish smile. She jumped as she felt a hand come down on her shoulder. She whirled around to see Takigawa staring down at her with a raised eyebrow.

"There you are. We've got a temporary walkway nailed up so we can get to the entrance of the second hot springs. It wasn't just your room she took out. Amazingly, the hot springs is still intact after that show of power." he told her. She blinked at him in surprise.

"Really…I guess that isn't surprising. As far as we know the hot springs seems to be a source of power for the ghost. It wouldn't make sense to destroy that. Something seems dangerous about this case, Takigawa. I know we've had a lot of dangerous cases but something about this one just seems wrong. It scares me." she confessed. She blinked as Takigawa squeezed her shoulder as he continued to smile down at her.

"It's going to be alright, Mai. We're going to figure it out." he told her. She managed to smile at him before feeling her shoulders drop as she heard Naru calling for her. She turned to see he was standing at the entrance to the lobby. She frowned as she saw he had his arms crossed with a frown also on his face. She swallowed as Takigawa let go of her shoulder. She tried to convince herself that Naru's eyes didn't lighten at the movement but her heart insisted on telling her he had been jealous. She swallowed as she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She didn't have time to dwell on her feelings.

"I need temperatures." he told her. She had to keep her jaw from dropping.

"Temperatures? Why? We know where the ghost likes to haunt so why do I need to take temperatures?" she demanded. If there was one thing she absolutely hated doing in her job it was taking temperatures. The Ryokan was big and she could just feel her calf muscles already protesting at how much walking she would have to do just to get a portion of the rooms in building.

"Temperatures. Now." he said before turning and walking away. Mai stared after him with her jaw hanging open. She closed her mouth as she glared after him. She began to go after him, ready to let him know exactly what she thought of him. She was stopped by Takigawa placing a hand on her shoulder again.

"Normally I would say to let him have it but he was acting oddly when we were building the walkway. My bet would be he was more worried about Gene than what he wanted to let anyone know. I'd give him some time alone." Takigawa told her. She looked back at him before nodding in agreement.

Mai had been with Naru when they thought his brother was gone. She had seen the sadness hidden deeply within in his eyes. She knew better than to comment on it. She cared deeply for Naru but she had no desire to push him. She had been on the receiving edge of his cutting wit before and at the moment she had no desire to face it again. Especially after they thought Gene had disappeared.

"I guess I'll go get the thermometer." she said as her head dropped. She didn't even react when Takigawa patter her on the back. The only thing Mai could think about was how sore she was going to be after taking the temperatures of every room in the Ryokan. She suddenly felt as though she were going to burst into tears.

"It'll be alright! I'll even help!" Takigawa told her. She glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "I'll take the hot springs and the garden!"

Mai just blinked at him before dropping her head. She didn't have the heart to tell her friend that taking those three locations was going to be little to no help. She just sighed before walking away from the monk so she could get started on the task Naru had given her. She really wished she could punch him if only once. She was sure it would make her feel better.

"I hate him. I didn't think it was possible. I hate that man." Mai groaned as she slumped against the wall of the last room she had gotten the temperature in. Takigawa had sought her out when she had barely started in her chore to tell her he had finished. She had been about to ask him to help her with other rooms until Naru had interrupted them to give Takigawa another task. She was sure she had seen a glint of superiority in the man's eyes as he led the monk away.

"Remember, Mai, murder is bad. You can go to jail for murder…even if the victim is that narcissistic pain in my rear boss." she grumbled under her breath. She started the journey back to her room as her calves protested the movement.

"There you are, Mai. Naru told me he had you checking temperatures." Mai looked up only to sigh as she saw Lin standing in front of her. She had a feeling he had sought her out because Naru had thought of another task for her. She narrowed her eyes at Lin as she mentally dared him to tell her she had to do something else that involved her moving. She watched as he blinked at her.

"I just finished. If he needs something else I have a message for you to relay to him." she told him with a frown. She watched as he shook his head at her and she could feel her hackles rising. She was ready to throw something at him if he didn't tell her what could possibly want from her again.

"Actually I was coming to get the data from you. I thought it would save you time and allow you to head straight to your room for the night." he told her. Mai blinked before allowing herself to smile as she handed him the readings she had taken down. He took it from her as she continued to smile at him hoping her apology was conveyed.

"Thanks, Lin. You can tell him all the temperatures are normal except for the two hot springs, which according to Takigawa are at least twenty degrees lower than what they should be." she told him as he looked over the paper she had handed him. He nodded before giving her a small smile and tilting his head.

"Go get some rest. I'll make up an excuse to make him stay away." he told her. She felt her grin brighten at the offer. She thanked the older man before quickly leaving him in the hallway. She made it to her new room in record time as she had been afraid Naru would sense she was trying to avoid him. She sighed in relief when she closed the door behind her.

'Why did he have to come early?' she asked herself as she slumped against the closed door of her room. She looked up at the ceiling as she slowly slid to the floor. It was hard to believe that morning she had been arguing with Naru over the phone while he was in Shibuya barking orders at her. Now, he was here at the Ryokan with Lin and Madoka as well as Takae being in the hospital. Mai felt as though she had lived a week out in the first full day at the Ryokan.

"Mai? Are you in there?" Mai was pulled from her thoughts as she heard Madoka outside the door. She quickly climbed to her feet and opened the door. She greeted Naru's former mentor with a tired smile. She didn't realize how tired she actually was until she had climbed to her sore feet to open the door.

"Hi, Madoka, do you need something?" she asked. She really hoped the older woman didn't need her to do anything that required her to move. She didn't think she would be able to physically do it.

"I just wanted to come talk before you went to sleep. Lin told me you look exhausted and he wanted to find a foolproof way to keep Naru away. Therefore, I told Naru that I had some things I had to discuss with you and to leave us alone. Which wasn't exactly a lie but this way you can sit down and relax." she said with a bright smile. Mai blinked before moving away so the woman could enter the room. She happily sat down on her bedding and smiled as Madoka joined her.

"Dr. and Mrs. Davis have been asking about you." Madoka told her. Mai blinked before looking down with a sigh.

"Naru didn't tell me that. I would have called them if I knew they wanted to hear from me." Mai told her. She looked at Madoka when the woman laughed. She wondered why her friend was laughing.

"In Noll's mind if he had told you his parents were asking about you it would mean he is attached to you. Noll, for better or worse, is afraid to become attached to anyone ever again. The last person he was truly attached to was Gene. Noll has been through the heartbreak many people don't have to suffer for forty or fifty years." Madoka told her. Mai tilted her head before smiling sadly. She understood what Madoka was telling her. She couldn't imagine having a twin only for them to die so suddenly.

"I doubt Naru could ever become that attached to me, Madoka. He loved Gene, as much as he refuses to admit it, but me? I'm just another employee to him." she said softly. There was no bitterness to her voice. It was just a fact to Mai, there was no changing what Naru thought or felt. It was just how stubborn he was.

"The people who are the most predictable can sometimes surprise us the most among all the people we know. Do me a favor, Mai, don't write Noll's feelings off so easily. Why do you think he made me and Lin pack up so quickly to get here in what has to be a record time?" Madoka asked. Mai furrowed her brows in confusion as she wasn't sure what the woman was talking about.

"I don't know." she finally mumbled. She watched as Madoka covered her mouth while laughing.

"You really can't think of a reason? It's obvious he was worried about you going into the hot springs that Kasumi died in by yourself. Good thing as when we got here she almost had you at the bottom of said hot springs." Madoka pointed out. Mai shook her head before falling back so she was laying down on her bedding. She looked up at the ceiling before closing her eyes as she took a deep breath.

"The ghost that tried to kill me earlier wasn't Kasumi. I can just feel it. There is something going on here that just doesn't…feel right. I know everyone else really thinks it's Kasumi but something is telling me we're on the wrong road by blaming her." Mai murmured under her breath. She glanced at Madoka to see the woman also seemed to be deep in thought over something.

'What is going on here? Kasumi…from the way others talk about her and from what I saw earlier…why is she getting so much blame? Is it because of when she died?' Mai blinked before her eyes went wide. She jumped to her feet causing Madoka to ask why she suddenly seemed so excited.

"Madoka, have we ever, truly, asked when these hauntings started? I don't mean the big things like the apparition appearing or major accidents. I mean little things. Kind of like things moving on their own when no one was looking or maybe hearing disembodied voice or even lights turning themselves on and off. We've been looking at this as though we already have the answers…what if we don't?" Mai suddenly stated. She glanced at Madoka causing the woman to furrow her eyebrows before she suddenly chuckled.

"Good thinking, Mai. However, the people who would have that answer for us are at the hospital with Takae-san. I doubt they'd be able to remember anything that happened before Kasumi's death especially with the given circumstances." Madoka told her. Mai sighed as she crossed her arms. She had the feeling Madoka was right. She hadn't thought about the fact that they would have to count on the family.

"Wait a minute…I think I might have an answer. Do you have your cell phone? I don't know where mine ended up after I threw it the last time Naru called me." Mai asked with a smile. Madoka sighed before digging in her pocket and handing it to the teenager.

"I'm going to say a prayer that he doesn't call my phone while you're using it." Madoka told her. Mai rolled her eyes with a laugh before quickly dialing Masako's number. She really hoped the psychic was still at the hospital with her friends.

"Hello?" the girl finally picked up. Mai had the feeling she had been hesitant to answer because she undoubtedly didn't recognize the number.

"Hi, Masako, it's Mai. Are you still at the hospital?" she asked. She heard the other girl clear her throat.

"Yes. Yumi and I are actually finishing dinner in the cafeteria. Did you need something, Mai?" she asked.

"Great. I need to talk to Yumi. Can I talk to her?" she asked. She could almost imagine Masako blinking at her. She really hoped the psychic wasn't going to make a snarky comment about her request. It was because of Masako that they were there trying to figure out what was going on in the Ryokan.

"Hello? This is Yumi." Mai jumped at the introduction. She hadn't been expecting for Masako to hand the other girl the phone without any warning.

"Hello, Yumi. This is Mai, we met earlier at the hospital. I have a question for you and I just want to warn you that it might seem blunt to you." Mai told her. She heard the other girl laugh.

"Just tell me straight out. After the day I've had I doubt anything will catch me by surprise. Also, you're trying to help my family keep the inn running. As much as I don't want anything to do with that place, I know how much it means to my grandmother and sister. So, anything you need please just let me know." Yumi told her. Mai let a small smile play on her lips before sitting back down. She nodded at Madoka when the woman sent her a look.

"Well, I want to know if you noticed anything odd at the inn…before your mother passed away. You're the only person who lived here before her passing then moved out before the hauntings reached this level." Mai told her. She listened to the silence that engulfed the other end. She swallowed as she wondered if she could have delivered the question a little differently.

"Now that you mention it. I remember when I was a child I could hear voices in the garden. I thought it was just my imagination because of how young I was. Now that I think about it…I remember listening to my mother and grandmother talking about the voices as well as how they seemed to misplace things. As I got older, I realized what they meant. It always seemed I was misplacing my school bag or keys or even my shoes. I wouldn't call it odd, really, but it certainly wasn't normal." Yumi mused. Mai processed the information before shaking her head. She had got the answer she wanted but she had no idea what to do with it now that she had the information.

"Thanks, Yumi. I appreciate you telling me this." Mai told her as she felt her own heart sink. She had hoped for a little more than what she had gotten from the girl.

"It's not a problem. Oh, yeah, one more thing. Masako was telling me about how you might want to know about the history of the Ryokan. There is a book that details the family members that lived there, when, and who was in charge at the time. It's a little more detailed than the family registrar. It should be under the front desk. It's pretty interesting if you like that kind of stuff. I don't." Yumi said with a laugh. Mai just blinked before letting out her own laugh.

"Thanks, Yumi. I hope your grandmother continues to improve." Mai told her. She ended the call before handing the phone back to Madoka. She smiled with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I'm not sure how much help it would be but I want to guess that there might have been a slight haunting here before Kasumi." Mai told her. Madoka hummed slightly as she crossed her arms.

"Perhaps Kasumi's death woke up the dormant spirits that were here. It's very possible that a very violent spirit has always been here but never had the strength to do anything other than play harmless pranks. I wonder…no, I would be money that the spirit that was already here has been feeding off the guilt and anguish Kasumi felt for leaving her family behind." Madoka said. Mai blinked before scratching the back of her head.

"That explains why Kasumi was asking for help earlier when I saw her in the garden. I think the spirit is doing more than just feeding off Kasumi's emotions…I think it has her trapped here! We have to help her!" Mai cried. Madoka smiled at her with a nod.

'That might not be as easy as you hope.' Mai blinked at the voice before she felt the world spin as she crashed against the floor.

"Mai!"

"Gene! Are you alright?!" Mai exclaimed when her eyes opened. The man was standing only a few feet away from her looking exhausted but alright. Mai couldn't see any injuries and for that she was very thankful.

"I'm fine. I wish you and Noll would listen to me when I tell you to run, though. If you had I probably wouldn't have had to use so much energy to contain the damage she did." he told her. She gave him a sheepish look before dropping her head.

"I'm sorry. I was just worried about you. I didn't want you to get hurt." she told him. She looked up at him as he chuckled at her. She watched as he shook his head at her.

"Mai…you have to remember…I'm dead. I can't get hurt. Not like you or Noll…and if either of you got hurt by something that I could prevent…I would never forgive myself." he told her. She felt her eyes widen before watching as he pointed at something behind him. "That's not why I brought you here, though. There's something you need to see."

"Huh?" Mai whispered. She recognized the orb of light floating in front of them as a spirit. She watched with her heart in her throat as darkness began to surround the orb almost suffocating its light. The orb struggled against the darkness for a moment before finally escaping if not a little a dimmer than what it had been.

"Whose spirit is that?" Mai asked. She had a sickening feeling she knew as she looked at Gene's face. She had never seen such a terrifying look on his face before. Nor had she seen the look on Naru's face.

"Kasumi is the orb. That wretched darkness is Azami."