Mai is soon introduced to Ryo Kasuga, a guy not much older than her. He has bleached hair and multiple piercings on his left ear. A tattoo peeked from the collar of his button-down shirt. Mai tries smiling cordially but then he grins lecherously and she is instantly grossed out. Not that she has anything against tattoos or piercings (her roommate, Rin, has enough of both), it is just she doesn't need to read his mind by the looks he was giving her. She is going to stay far away from him.
She excuses herself with Naru's tea and runs to the sanctuary where Lin would be either typing or staring at monitors.
She passes Naru his tea and tells him of what Hitoshi told John. Naru nods as he leaves the base to attend a phone call.
"So there are three spirits so far. One is the shadow we keep seeing and it attacked Takigawa, the second is possibly Minami Kawaguchi, and the other is an unidentified man in eighteenth century clothing," Lin recounts.
"Do you think it is the house then?" Mai asks.
Naru re-enters, "No. The second generation of Kawaguchi moved here in 1982. The previous owners build this place. They went bankrupt so they sold this house to Koji Kawaguchi. The deaths of Koji's brothers happened a year previously. They lived closer to Nagasaki. Koji Kawaguchi moved here with his mother in tow when his father, Hiro Kawaguchi, committed suicide. And there is no burial ground around. And the shrine might be beyond reproach."
Mai puffs out her cheeks. Lin brings out the box from under the table. He strokes the cover and wonders aloud, "We need to open this. A box from nearly two centuries ago and a ghost in eighteenth century clothes? it cannot be just a coincidence. I feel like we need to get this opened."
"We can ask Sakura," Mai says. The men nod. She leaves to look for Sakura.
Mai locates Sakura as she exits the annexe. Mai shouts, "Sakura-chan!"
Sakura smiles brightly, "Yes, Mai-chan?"
"Can you come with me once please?"
"Sure."
They are near the stairs when Mai asks, "Were you leaving lunch for your husband?"
Sakura nods, "I made his favourite prawn tempura today."
"So as to show you don't hate him at all?"
"Yes," she laughs. Then her face darkens. She grabs Mai's hand and bows low, "Sentaro-kun told me what happened yesterday. I am so sorry."
Mai grabs Sakura's hands and says, "Sakura-chan, I should be apologising. I hurt him as well. And the only person you should apologise is to Nohara-san and Hitoshi."
"They forgave me, but I can't forgive myself. Why can't he see I just want to help him?"
"Men are idiotic like that." Mai is relieved when Sakura smiles.
They enter the base. Mai sits down and pats the space beside her for Sakura to sit. She does so and Mai asks, "We found a box in the attic—"
"Mai had a vision when she touched this box," Naru continues, "We think it might be important." With that he brings out the box.
Sakura gasps, "I'd forgotten all about it! It belongs to my family. My grandmother gave it to me when I got married. I bought it here with me. She gave me a key too, but I never got to open it. Do you want me to find the key?"
"Yes."
She stands up, "Okay, Shibuya-san. But it might take some time. There is a lot of junk in this house. Finding a small key will be hard, especially how the key looks has escaped my mind. But I will try my best." She bows and throwing one smile at Mai's direction, leaves the room.
"Where is Lin-san?" Mai asks.
"He is sleeping," Naru replies.
"Oh."
What would Gene do in my place? Naru thinks as he watches her leave, a little bit too enthusiastically, he would definitely lock these two in a room and not let them out till they figured out their feelings, or at least confessed how they felt about each other.
Day three
Lin enters the base and smiles. Someone had laid out a bed for him. He can guess who. He sits down and the smile refuses to leave his face.
He was fast asleep when Mai had come to wake him up. The sun was setting. He was dreaming maybe (he hardly dreams and when he dreams he cannot remember anything) when he heard his name being called. He didn't wake up. Then someone started shaking his shoulder. For someone who was always ready for combat, he jerked awake and grabbed the closest thing near him: Mai. She was so close to his face. If it wasn't for Houshou, he would have kissed her and then maybe later regretted it. Or not.
He grunts and rubs his face at that. He is turning thirty this year and he was behaving like an idiot.
Mai turns to her right. She chews the skin around her thumbnail. Her mind replaying this evening. She was ordered by Naru to wake Lin up as the sun was setting soon. She called his name and when that didn't work, she started shaking his shoulder. It worked but then she forgot he had amazing reflexes. And just as expected, he thought he was being attacked, so he grabbed her and she squeaked. They were so close. She could have counted the number of eyelashes on his eyes if she was any closer. Then she remembers feeling giddy and his intense, but sleepy, eyes made her want to melt in his arm. She noticed how his eyes shifted to her lips and lingered there for only a moment. Her heart jumped in excitement but then Bou-san had to ruin everything!
She presses her head to her pillow and sighs. Would Lin have kissed her? Now she will never know!
Suddenly she hears someone calling her name. She peeks out behind her pillow. Oh yes someone is definitely shouting "Mai! Mai!"
Mai jumps out from her bed. She pushes her door open. The base and the girls' quarter were on the same floor. She sees Lin poke his head out of the door too. She runs to him and says, "Do you hear it?"
"Yes. I think it is coming from downstairs," he says. They both take off running.
When they reach the landing, they see Hitoshi doubled over his knees trying to catch his breath. Mai gasps and looms over him, asking, "Hitoshi, are you okay?"
The boy looks up at her, his eyes teary and scared, "Uncle Kenji and father…"
"Okay, okay. You wait here!"
She runs towards the annexe, Lin in tow. They run barefoot over grass and stones as the moon plays hide and seek. They enter the annexe and sounds of a quarrel and scuffle comes down from the end of the corridor. They run towards the sound. At the end of the corridor is another section of the house which separates the living quarters for guests. They stop in their tracks when they see an unconscious Ryo lying and a scared Kaorin kneeling next to him. The voices of two men come from a room to their right. Mai and Lin peek in.
Kenji and Sentaro are shouting at each other. Sentaro is trying to hit Kenji who successfully dodges Sentaro every time. The room is in a mess, with tables overturned and the rice paper on the door torn to shreds. Lin asks Kaorin, "What happened?"
The girl had started crying, "Kasuga-san and Nohara-san were sharing this room. They are cousins. I stay in the next room. I heard a loud crash. When I came outside to check, I saw the door was destroyed and Kasuga-san was unconscious. I called for Kenji-san. He came and Nohara-san lost it completely. Hitoshi ran off. Is he okay?"
Mai says, "He is all right." She feels afraid by the feral look on Sentaro's face. He seemed so calm and nice, what made him turn so violent? She whispers, "Lin?"
Lin nods. He whistles for a shiki. He feels it leave but then he scowls when the shiki ricochets back to him. Mai had seen it too. Her voice is shaky when she asks, "What was that?"
Lin realises with a jolt that she had seen his shiki but doesn't express his surprise much, so he replies, "Nohara is not possessed but something is blocking my shiki anyway. We need to subdue him."
"Okay," with that Mai enters the room and before Lin can stop her, she walks between the two men. Kenji stands back, shocked while Sentaro stares at her with bloodshot eyes. Then, with one solid punch at the area below the ear, Mai knocks Sentaro out. She quickly catches him though, before his head can crash against the floor. She grabs his head and softly lays it down on the floor. She feels Lin's presence beside her. She turns around to see the Chinese man smirk at her with ill-concealed amusement in his eyes. He checks Sentaro's pulse. Steady. He says, softly, "That was impressive. Even though you scared me there for a second. Also, reminder to self: never get on Mai Taniyama's bad side."
Mai blushes. Then she hears him gasp. She looks up to find Lin staring at the inside of Sentaro's elbow. She narrows her eyes at the unknown mark on the arm. She asks, "What is it?"
"A mark of a curse," Lin mutters. He stands up and kneels down at Ryo's side. He checks the inside of his left arm. His frown deepens when he sees the same mark on the same spot. His confusion increases. He gets to his feet again. He addresses Kenji, "Kawaguchi-san, help me get him inside."
Kenji gives a short nod. Between Lin and Kenji, they lay down Ryo beside Sentaro. Kenji does not regard them much as he quietly leaves. Kaorin comes inside and asks, "Will they be okay?"
"They are both okay," Lin reassures. Kaorin nods and leaves.
Mai asks, "Lin-san? You checked Ryo's arm too, right?"
Lin says, "Yes. He has the same mark." He points at the mark, burned in black, on his skin. It is a small circle, it looks like the ragged hole made by an iron nail when you hammer it down on weak wood. The mark on Sentaro looked bigger than Ryo's. Lin continues, "I have a theory, but…"
Mai smiles at him, "You will figure it out." Lin smiles at her trying to encourage him.
They decide to go back to base. Mai yawns as she walks with Lin. They meet Hitoshi at the stairs. He asks as soon as he sees them, "Is my dad okay?"
"He is, for now. Hitoshi, why don't you sleep with your cousins tonight?"Mai says.
Hitoshi nods. He hugs Mai and mumbles, "Thank you Mai." He leaves.
"I feel terrible. He must have been so scared," Mai says.
"Hmm," Lin says nothing, deep in thought. They resume walking.
They are near the base. Lin stops near the door to his lair, Mai moves on to her room. Suddenly he grabs onto Mai's wrist to stop her. She halts and turns around. He says, "Uh, you did that didn't you?" he points to the bed made on the floor.
Mai says, "I, uh, you slept on the floor yesterday. I thought that if you got tired, you can sleep there. I am sorry if—"
"N-no. You don't have to apologise. Thank you Taniyama-san." He lets go of her hand.
She smiles, "Lin-san? Please just call me Mai. I have known you for far too long for this formality to continue."
"I can do that. Mai." His smile nearly stops our poor girls' heart.
She blushes, bites her lower lip and stutters, "Y-yeah, okay. Uh, good night."
"Good night." Lin enters the base, closing the door behind him, he starts to grin. He decides he like it when he causes her to blush.
He looks down on the bed and shakes his bed. It is just like her to be kind and considerate to everyone. He should not read too much in this. But he has to admit, Mai biting her lips is sort of sexy.
Smack. Koujo Lin tries to control his brain.
"Mai."
She starts blushing every time she replayed his voice speaking his name. She sighs and closes her eyes. Her face is way too hot. She places her hand over her face. Sheesh. She is being ridiculous. The gesture was a simple one: gratitude. She rubs her wrist, right where he had held her. She bites her lips. When he had smiled like that at her…oh gosh she forgot to breathe. One of these days, she will do something stupid and there will be no one to blame but Koujo Lin and his rare yet dazzling smiles.
If I kiss you one day, I will blame you, Mai resolves.
Next morning, Yasu calls. Naru who had been waiting, says a slightly annoyed, "Yes?"
"No good Naru. There are way too many Tamakos all around that area. But there are two families that have piqued my interest. I think they might be relevant. Anything else?" Yasu asks.
"Yes. Check out the Kawaguchi lineage. If it is not the house, then it is the family. Check both the paternal and maternal line and their history. The male line beyond Hiro Kawaguchi and the female line beyond Nanako Shina. I will message you an address. The address is of a genealogist. Take his help."
Naru disconnects the phone. He is at the base with Lin and Masako. The others went to visit the shrine, much to Naru's chagrin. They were here to work not to sightsee. Mai is on his tea run. Suddenly they hear a crash outside their room.
Lin is the first to get up. He rushes out to see Mai sprawled on the floor, the tray beside her, cups broken and tea spilled all over. Sakura is kneeling beside her, trying to pick up Mai by her elbow. Mai sits up and rubs her chin. Lin spots rough scratches there. He comes closer and kneels down too, picking up the tray. He asks, "What happened?"
"I am not sure," Mai rubs her neck, "I was bringing tea for us, when I fell someone grab my ankle and trip me." She sees Masako and Naru standing behind Lin.
"I saw it," Sakura says, "I mean, I was behind her with the dorayaki when I saw that Mai didn't trip on anything. She was walking normally. And suddenly she landed on the floor. I am so sorry Mai-chan."
"No, no I am sorry for ruining your floor."
"Mai-chan that is the least of my concern. You are hurt."
"Yeah," Lin curls his finger under her chin, "You scraped yourself good there."
Oh god, Mai mentally whimpers as she locks her gaze with his. She mumbles, "I will be okay. Hehe."
Masako interrupts, "Mai, come on, you need antiseptic." Lin moves his hand away and lets Masako and Sakura take care of Mai.
As soon as the three of them enter their room, Naru smirks, "Hmm, you looked so concerned back there. Interesting."
Naru's words skittles over his head as he gets slightly miffed, "That—I was just—she is a valued team member."
"Whatever you say!" he turns around and goes back to the base.
Lin shoots daggers at his back.
John returns alone to the base. Naru raises his eyebrow at that. John explains, "Uh, Ayako went shopping. Houshou didn't want to leave her alone."
"Hmm," Naru grumbles, "This is why people shouldn't marry their co-workers."
John gives a weak laugh, "They will be back again. Oh Naru, we did check the shrine and the surrounding area. There are no secret burial sites there either. And the shrine is safe."
Naru nods. Well, at least the spiritualists got to check the shrine out. But he was still angry about Houshou and Ayako honeymooning around.
The couple returns after nearly two hours. They are disciplined enough by their boss. The rest of the day went relatively quiet, except for Ryo Kasuga. He complained of a headache, so he didn't come to visit the SPR (he was curious about the mark).
After dinner, Lin told his theory to everyone, which be he had been thinking about, "I think the two men—Ryo Kasuga and Sentaro Nohara are used as live hirogatas. I am betting that the curse on them is being fulfilled by their blood. The blood is supplying energy to the curse, to be precise. This is a curse, but I also think a spirit is responsible. This spirit is using magic, I am sure."
"What about the other two spirits?" Masako asked, "I felt the presence of three spirits here. One angry, and the other two benign. So you might be right."
"I am guessing the angry spirit tripped me," Mai sighs.
"Yes. But why?" Lin asks.
"What do you mean?" Naru asks.
"There is a monk, a Miko, a priest, and an omniyoji in this house. Yet the spirit attacked someone who knows nothing about exorcism. Why?" Lin explains.
Because I am the trouble magnet, Mai thinks sadly. But Lin is right, why attack me?