(A/N): Hey, how are you all? I'm back at school and it's really tiring. :( Too much homework...

Well, I decided to write ahead a little before uploading this chapter, so that I can upload the next one more easily while I have various controlled assessments to do that take up time. I have three language ones to do over the course of the next few weeks, which is rather annoying. My friends think I'm crazy for doing three languages, but oh well, it's pretty interesting. It just means a lot of work on top of everything else.

So, this chapter was a mixture of fun and frustration. On the one hand, it was fun to write more about my OCs, but then again, I had to do so much research for a collection of names that crop up (you'll see later) all in different languages and after trawling through dictionaries and going on Google Translate (my language teachers would be horrified) I just about managed it, although I was ready to scream by the end.

Did you know, my guide in Iceland was on top of the volcano that erupted in 2010, called E15, when it erupted. He and his friends were a few metres away from a lava fissure that shot up into the year several metres high and wide. They were first like, "Oh, how cool, let's take a picture." Then they ran for it. Iceland is an interesting place. From my impression of it, the people seemed quite casual about things that I would be freaking out about. For example, we were driving through a city near Reykjavik, and there were a load of houses, among which was an empty patch surrounded by rails. Our guide pointed it out to us, and said very casually, "And you can see here an empty patch. This is because a hot spring appeared in the ground and swallowed up the house." And we were all kind of like 0.o But as long as no one dies, they seem to be ok with it, or at least the people I met did. It was a beautiful place, but the ground is very unstable, since the country is on two constructive plate margins, which means basically the country is being pulled apart by the tectonic plates, so I would be too scared of the volcanoes to live there.

Anyway, sorry for digressing. The reader Lizzy asked for song recommendations for reading this chapter. Unfortunately, this chapter was one that I didn't listen to a wide range of songs to, like I did for some others, so I don't have as many as usual. I would say, try relaxed songs and then later on a cute song, maybe a creepy song, and perhaps ending with a more...intense?...song. Um, for example, I would say Disparate Youth by Santigold, then Bronte by Gotye as a cute song, then Fuel To Fire by Agnes Obel.

I'm afraid I don't have time to do review answer time this chapter, but thank you all very much for your kind words. They make the days less stressful for me :) I'm glad people could relate to this story, and I'm glad people have turned out with happy endings. And if not, keep hanging in there, my precious readers.

Thank you for reading, favouriting, following and reviewing this story, and thank you so much for your support!

Time for 35! Wow, chapter 35 already... :)

Mai examined the group of people in front of her curiously. There were six of them altogether, and they all looked foreign. And they were all looking at her.

A few minutes ago, there had been a knock on the door. Automatically, Mai got up to answer it, and it took a moment to realise one of the officers was following closely behind her, hand under his jacket pocket. Now feeling uneasy by this reaction, Mai opened the door tentatively.

"Hello, can I help you?"

"Is this SPR, owned by Kazuya Shibuya?" A man asked her. Behind her, the officer seemed to relax.

"Um, yes." The man turned to his nearest comrade – there were five of them behind him – and whispered quickly,

"Told you this was the right place." The person he was talking to, a man, whispered back, "You can't blame me for doubting you, with your map skills."

"Um," Mai cleared her throat, "do you have an appointment?"

The man reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a badge. He showed it to Mai, who read it closely.

"I'm Conor Gillard with the FBI," the man explained, "could we come in?"

The six of them had piled into the room, revealing themselves to be an interesting mix of people. The first to speak was the man who introduced himself as Conor Gillard.

"Are you Ms. Mai Taniyama?" His Japanese was accented.

"U-Um, yes." Mai looked down, abashed, as she became aware that everyone was looking at her.

"Pleasure to meet you." He held out his hand. Mai hesitated for a second, wondering what he wanted her to do, then quickly remembered the custom and shook it.

"How are you? I heard you got into a bit of bother yesterday." He had a good natured face that was serious but not stern, and was clearly foreign. It was hard for Mai to guess where he was from, though. He had a confident appearance, yet was not arrogant, and he gave an impression of being both hard working and mild. His visage was neat – his coat had been done up, and his brown hair was tidy – but was not obsessively so. Around his neck, Mai noticed a small silver crucifix.

"Oh, I'm fine. Really. But…did you find my friends?"

"Yes. Don't worry; they're safe."

Mai felt a huge surge of relief wash over her, and looking at everyone else in SPR, they felt the same. "Where are they?"

"They're coming. The police just wanted a word with them about something. Agent Brown is with them, so they're fine. I'm just going back there myself. Would it be ok if my co-workers asked you a few questions?"

When Conor had left, the first to ask a question was a young woman with a face much sterner than his. Her green eyes swept over all the members of the SPR critically as she observed them, hovering on Naru in particular. The colour of them was somewhat pale and almost cloudy, but they were nonetheless intense. The jacket she wore was a much darker, bottle green over a paler blouse. At her neck was an embroidered neckerchief, white with delicately sewn flowers. Somehow, it looked out of place on her – too gentle for her judicious and almost cynical gaze.

"Have any of you come into contact with a man called Saburou Osaki, sometimes going by the name of Manzo Ueda?" Her black hair was short and straight. Judging from her appearance, Mai would have guessed she was Spanish, maybe, or somewhere that was pretty sunny; her skin was quite dark and she looked either American or European.

"Us? No." Naru answered. "But Houshou Takigawa has. And Mai-kun here saw him in a dream."

The woman ignored the last comment completely, although a few of the others looked confused. "What about a woman called Olivia Scutellatus?"

"Oh, we saw her!" Mai interjected. "Right, Naru-kun?"

"Yes. I've met her before. If you're going to ask about her whereabouts, I don't know. The last time I saw her, she was running away down an alley, limping with a twisted ankle after getting in a fight with Sinead. She wanted a piece of evidence we are in possession of. Now, may I ask you, where are John Brown and Houshou Takigawa?"

The woman sighed, and muttered something in a language that Mai did not understand. "Take this." She pushed an old mobile into his hand. "Ring the first number that comes up on speed dial. Conor will tell you where to go. Bring an officer with you."

"Thank you. I'll see you later, Mai-kun." As Naru left without another word, not even to beckon over an officer – who just came over automatically, Mai put up her hand, as if in class.

"Can I ask a question?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

The woman looked startled for a moment, as if she did not expect this. Then her face hardened again. "My name is Eliot Canizares. You are Mai Taniyama?"

"Yes." Mai bowed. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She then motioned to the other members of SPR.

"This is Osamu Yasuhara." Yasuhara smiled pleasantly and bowed, completely at ease and not troubled by the appearance of the officers.

"I'm Ayako Matsuzaki." Although she spoke confidently as she bowed, she seemed somewhat put off – one of the officers was staring at her quite intently.

"My name is Masako Hara." Masako bowed, used to having to meet strangers on a regular basis. This must have been nothing new for her, Mai realised.

"Pleasure to meet you all. Now, as I was saying –"

"Are you that medium from TV?" One of the officers interrupted her. She was dressed casually, wearing a plain white shirt under a red plaid blouse with scuffed jeans, and for some reason, her interjection and informal way of speaking made Mai feel less tense.

"Yes. Forgive me; I don't know your name."

"Ah, I'm Andrea Dawn. Call me Andy." She stuck out her hand, then withdrew it quickly and bowed.

"Andy. Please don't interrupt." Eliot sighed.

Andy carried on, regardless. "I've watched your show a few times. You must be so brave. There's no way I'd want a spirit to ever enter my body." She spoke excitedly. Her eyes were quite large and hazel.

"Hey…" Mai noticed the colour of her hair – a pleasant brown that drifted slowly into blonde. "I like your dipdye." It was a current fashion at her school.

"Thanks." Andy smiled. "Although it's not actually dipdye. It just does that naturally."

"Really?!" Mai examined it more closely. "That's so cool!"

Proud, Andy flashed Eliot a grin, who just rolled her eyes and waited impatiently.

"Lighten up, Eliot." An officer next to her spoke up. He was very tall and broad shouldered, but he wasn't opposing, like Lin looked. "It's not an interrogation." He then turned to Mai and the others. "I'm Winter." He bowed. "Winter Laverture." He looked quite messy. Conor's coat seemed pristine in comparison to his – it was dirty and bashed. The front pocket was torn, one of the leather shoulder pads had been ripped, and Mai could see a long slit down the front that had been hastily sewn up again. His hair looked like it needed a cut and had been given about three strokes from a hair brush, and the stubble around his lower face was quite thick in some places, as if he hadn't shaved very well. And although his mouth and his eyes looked good-humoured, Mai could not help but be immediately drawn to the three scars on his face. Two were under his right eye, one of which stretched across his nose and almost reach the opposite eye. The third was lower down his face, and seemed to travel down to his neck, although the turtle neck he wore under his coat made it hard to be sure.

"Can I ask," he didn't seem put off by Mai staring at the scars, "that Kazuya Shibuya…does he run the place?"

"Yeah. He's young, I know, but he's really clever." Mai explained.

"Hm. So…this company researches paranormal activity?"

"Mmhm. We investigate hauntings and spirits and things like that."

He looked thoughtful. "You don't find a lot of those in the west. Well, I haven't seen many in Canada. And I guess I can't really judge."

So he was Canadian. "Um…I don't want to be rude, but…those scars…"

He smiled. "It's fine. Everyone asks about them. An accident on a volcano I was climbing a few years ago."

Now Yasuhara spoke up. "So, are you a geologist or something?"

"It's more of a hobby than anything. I know we're officers, but we do have hobbies."

This sparked Mai's interest. "So…you're officers."

Winter nodded. "Yeah. Kind of."

"Kind of?" Yasuhara asked.

"Well, we don't usually deal with normal issues."

"Sinead Brown is our chief." Andy piped up. "She's…a liaison officer. Sort of. We're all liaison officers, and she leads us."

"So," now Ayako sidled up to join the conversation, "what issues do you deal with?"

Eliot remained tight lipped and silent, so Andy spoke up. "You should be knowledgeable about it, too, I guess…we deal with things that normal officers can't. Things that can't be explained. Crimes that aren't natural."

"So…like spirits and things?"

"Well, we don't actually come across spirits that often, but it's that kind of thing. Paranormal incidents. Like, this one time, there was this serial killer, and no one could figure out how they were killing people, and it turned out he had P.K.L.T. And just recently, we were at these temples in Mexico, in the rainforest. They were…Aztec, I think…? And there was this drug ring that were using the temples as a base. But they had this, like, shaman or something with them, and it was so weird…the stone statues were alive."

"What?!"

"Yeah. The shaman used this ancient protective spell and brought this big jaguar statue alive. It was pretty scary, since, you know, you can't exactly shoot a statue."

"But that's impossible!"

"Well, so is clairvoyance and post cognition, but I'm pretty sure you've got all that." Winter pointed out. How had he known that? As if reading her mind, he added, "Sinead told me about it."

"What did you do?" Yasuhara asked, eyes wide.

"Yeah. I wasn't there. What happened?" Another officer spoke up very quietly. Mai had barely noticed him. Like everyone else, he was foreign, but seemed much less sure of himself. He was a little smaller than Andy, and looked timid in appearance. His clothes were very plain, as if he was too scared of other's judgement to dress more characteristically, and he had been standing to the side, not muttering a word until now.

"We managed to convince it that we weren't a threat, and that it should be attacking the drug people instead, so it turned on them. You should have seen how fast they ran away." Andy grinned, and flashed a look at Eliot. For a moment, Eliot smiled back, then stopped and resumed her seriousness.

"Oh yeah…" Ayako spoke up. "I heard that Sinead-san and Naru-kun have met before. How

come?"

"Oh…I'm not really sure." Winter frowned. "Sinead doesn't really talk about it much."

Finally, the last spoke up. She had been watching Ayako for a while now, her dark eyes curious, and her head tilted as she examined Ayako like a puzzle. Now, as if she had solved it, her face broke into a smile. She was very pretty, Mai thought. She seemed to be Native American or something similar. Around her neck, she had hung a long necklace with teeth and feathers on it. Other than that, she had kept herself plain, but unlike the quiet officer, it suited her, whereas it made the other officer look somewhat dreary.

"You…you're the one who summoned the tree elders, wasn't it?" Her voice was soft, yet firm.

Ayako, startled, nodded. "Um, yes. That was me. How did you know?"

"I can tell these things."

"What is your name?" Ayako asked.

"Chosovi." She didn't give a last name. "I'm descended from the Hopi tribe in Arizona. Oh, and this is Lukas." She leant in closer to Ayako. "He's Austrian, and he isn't very confident speaking Japanese, so excuse his shyness." Chosovi herself spoke Japanese perfectly. In contrast to everyone else, she had no accent.

"Hey, Chosovi-san…what happened in Ireland?" Mai asked tentatively. "Is that where Naru-kun and Sinead-san met?"

"…Yes." She did not elaborate, so Mai asked further,

"What happened? It sounds like it was eventful."

"It wasn't really."

"Were you there yourself?"

"Yes. But nothing really happened. A case. That's all."

Mai gave up her interrogation. "So…when will Bou-san and John-kun be here?"

"I'm here."

Everyone turned their heads. Takigawa limped through the door, supported by Lin. He smiled weakly at their stares.

"Bou-san!" Mai ran up to him and threw her arms around him, almost knocking him off balance. "You idiot!" She shouted, burying her head into his chest.

"Thanks. What did I do?"

"Running off like that? We had no idea where you went, whether you were alive or not! What if you had died or…" She broke off, holding back tears.

Takigawa felt a surge of guilt. "I'm sorry." He stroked her back comfortingly. "I know, it was stupid of me. I wasn't thinking straight."

The others had gathered around him. "Are you ok?" Ayako asked, concerned. "What happened to your arm?"

"Uh…I got shot…"

Yasuhara looked shocked for a second, but he shook himself and grinned, hiding his horror. "Gun shot? You've been busy, haven't you?"

"I'm glad you're alright." Masako told him. "We were all very worried about you."

Naru entered behind him. "Yes. But next time you get a lead, tell someone before you run off." He had a slight smile on his face, though.

"Hey, Bou-san…" Mai looked around. "Where's John-kun?"

"He's coming. But try not to overwhelm him. He's been through a lot." He paused. "…I think he's a bit worried about seeing you all, after…you know…"

Everyone nodded. The Schizophrenia set-up.

"It's been a hard time for him." Takigawa went on. "We had a few close shaves. So, don't ask him too many questions about it."

I could hear Houshou talking inside the office, but I wasn't really paying attention to it. Sinead and I were standing outside of the office, a little away from the door.

We had been at the police station, after finding the Ward. Right now, more officers were being sent to the site, searching for bodies and collecting evidence, while more were searching for the colleague and Saburou.

"You ok?" Sinead asked.

"Y-Yeah…" In truth, I was very nervous. I had no idea how everyone was going to react, or what I should do. It felt like a life time since I had seen the other members of SPR, and with everything that happened, I was scared that a huge…void would have appeared between us. After all I had experienced – nearly dying, seeing the Ward again – I was scared that they might…I don't know…reject me, almost…

"Hey." Sinead touched my arm softly. "I know you're scared. It's been a while, after everything that happened to you, and it's ok if you're worried. But remember, they are your friends, and they've missed you a lot. It's ok."

I nodded, pursing my lips. "But…"

Sinead put her arm around me. "Honestly. They've been so worried about you. And I'm going to be right there. Kazuya was fine with seeing you, wasn't he?"

It was true. Kazuya had arrived at the police station just as we were leaving. He did not regard me strangely or treat me awkwardly; he had hugged me briefly, then checked over my scrapes and bruises like a mother with a child. It was the first time I had ever seen him acting this way to anyone, and it was…endearing.

"…Yeah." I took a breath.

"Shall we go in?"

I nodded mutely. Sinead knocked briefly, then opened the door and walked inside. I followed behind her, keeping my gaze at the floor, not daring to look at anyone.

I'm not sure who reached me first, but I was almost knocked over. Before I could recover, someone else was hugging me, and I found myself surrounded by them all. My friends. No one said a word. No one needed to. When was it that this empty feeling had overcome me? I had not even realised its powerful grip on me until now, when it had been washed away. Neither did I realise how much I relished the feeling of being free from its grasp. Why had I been so worried? It felt pointless now. Of course they wouldn't reject me.

Finally, they stepped back and allowed me some space.

"We missed you." Yasuhara smiled and patted my back.

"We were so worried about you! Thank goodness you're back." Mai lunged forwards and hugged me again. It hurt my ribs, but I managed not to wince.

"It's good to see you again, Brown-san." Masako was smiling gently. "But don't suffocate him, Mai-kun."

"Oh, right! Sorry, sorry." She released me.

"You're hurt…" Ayako looked at the cuts and bruises on my face nervously. "Are you ok? Did the elders get to you in time?"

"The elders…were you the one who sent the white spirits?"

"Yes, did they help?"

"Thank you. Without them…I'm not sure I'd be here."

Sinead came up behind me. "Indeed. The elders showed us the way to the Ward. If you hadn't sent them, my team and I might not have found the Ward in time."

Ayako smiled, but shrugged casually. "Well, we weren't going to just wait around now, were we?"

"So, is John-kun safe now?" Mai asked excitedly. "I mean, surely colleague-san wouldn't attack now."

"Unfortunately, it's not that simple." Sinead explained.

"Huh?" Mai asked, worried. "What do you mean?"

"There's more at work here than we originally thought." Sinead began.

"Mattaku Psychiatric Ward is a disposal unit. A place where witnesses or enemies are sent before they stand trial. There, they either die or go mad. Usually both."

"But what kind of person would send them there?" Mai exclaimed, disgusted.

"One group in particular." Sinead answered. "An FBI agent who went missing two years ago, called Matthew Forcit, was investigating them."

"Agent Forcit was?" Chosovi asked, surprised. It seemed she had met him before. "I didn't realise he was investigating this."

"Actually, he found a witness called Andrew Williams who was going to testify against the group. The disappearance of this witness is what prompted him to investigate Mattaku Psychiatric Ward."

"This group is called Roku Monsuta. Six monsters." she said in English for Lukas, who looked bemused. "Well, in Japan, anyway. It is an international smuggling ring, though I use 'smuggling ring' ambiguously, for their ambitious crimes are quite varied."

"Just how many countries are we talking about here?" Kazuya asked.

"Several. In Japan, it's Roku Monsuta. Germany is Rotes Meer. In Italy, they're called Ricci Merchanti. Ireland is RéaltaíMaorga. England is Red Monarchs. Russia is Rubinovye Muzykanty. The U.S.A is Rebel Monsters. The list goes on. Different names, but all the same initials: R.M. They smuggle a large quantity of things, depending on the country, including people, animals, antiques and drugs. Arrests have been made, but they have been rare. At best, officers around the globe have managed to disrupt dealings and prevent thefts or kidnappings to be used in 'trading'.

"This organisation set up a smaller operation, which Agent Forcit mentioned in the 4XS files. It involved Mattaku Psychiatric Ward being used as a place to send witnesses of their crimes and dispose of them. This is why we know so little about the group – all the witnesses were sent to the Ward."

"So now we have a smuggling ring to worry about?!" Mai sounded scared.

"Not quite. You see, the attack we experienced was very hesitant. R.M. knows the Mattaku operation has been blown and they've probably decided to back off. They know that interfering too much will only heighten research on their link to the Ward, so I'd be surprised if they do much. That attack was more of a warning than anything." Although she said this, I could tell there was something she wasn't saying. However, no one else seemed to notice, and I didn't ask further. If she didn't want to share any information, there would be a good reason for it.

"If they're clever, which they are," she continued, "they'll realise it would be foolish to continue and give up. We must still be diligent against them, though. Their actions may change later. The current problem is colleague-san and Osaki-san."

"Won't they have given in as well?" Yasuhara asked.

"Unfortuantely, no. Collague-san is twisted and sadistic. His mind is set on punishment, and it will be impossible to sway that. He knows that his previous goal of…'destroying evidence'…is no longer possible, so now his goal is revenge. Saburou Osaki also wishes revenge, but because he is proud, and also fearful."

"Wait a second." Ayako frowned. "How are they meant to be different? I just thought they were both crazy, evil men."

"Well, they are both evil, but they are very different." Sinead explained.

"Osaki-san is proud and somewhat narcissistic. He is clever and knows how to manipulate people through use of trickery and mind-games." Her gaze went on Houshou briefly, who glanced away guiltily. "But this form of self-love is dangerous and extreme. It's more than just narcissism and self-preservation. It's a lust for power and control. If I were to guess, he was probably demeaned, teased and laughed at as a child and also as an adolescent. He had anger-management issues during school."

"Like…the kid who gets wound up really easily and goes nuts?" Mai suggested.

"Yes. Except that, to deflect criticisms and being teased, he was also a bully. It's very typical behaviour of bullies– to avoid feeling insecure or getting picked on, he became a bully himself. However, he already had a savage nature, and this worsened the situation. Once he had this feeling of 'power', it became like an addiction. As he grew, he realised that the only way for him to achieve this power would be through violence and physically abusing others. He is no longer sympathetic towards others, and he had adopted a sadistic nature to cover up his insecurities. In his crave for power over others and his desperation to hide his self-doubt, he has lost his humanity."

"You make it sound like he's a victim." Eliot remarked.

"No. Childhood-made insecurities happen to everyone, and everyone has them. It's not excuse to become what he has.

"Anyway, colleague-san is completely different. He is a sadist by nature. He was never felt sympathy towards others. His self-absorption didn't arise from insecurities, it's always been there. He views himself as…superior. You could say it's a form of a god complex. Moreover, while Osaki-san enjoys physical abuse, it seems colleague-san takes pleasure from mental abuse. It's quite disturbing. Anyone who fails, undermines or causes trouble for him has, in his opinion, gone against this superior figure, and therefore must be punished most cruelly. He is clever enough to know when to bury a hatchet, so to speak, but once his mind is set on revenge, he will not rest until he has achieved it." I felt people's gaze on me, but I ignored it. "This is why everyone is afraid of colleague-san, which leads is to our next point."

"I believe that Osaki-san has failed too many times, and is now hiding from colleague-san."

"Taking out his own workers? That's a bit extreme." Ayako muttered.

"He's scared and angry. He's lost the power he craves, and something that should have been simple has gone horribly wrong and resulted in him being put in danger. He is angry at, well, all of us, but particularly everyone at SPR."

"Us?" Kazuya asked.

"It's understandable that a group of officers would ruin his operation of setting-up John, killing him, keeping the Ward a secret. But he's been foiled by a psychic research team, and now his life is in danger. I'm afraid a lot of his anger will be directed at you two," she gestured towards me and Houshou, "and out of our three subjects – colleague-san, R.M. and Osaki-san – he will be the most likely to attack right now. He is angry, but most importantly, he is scared. He wants powers back; he wants to prove himself, possibly to colleague-san, in the hope of redeeming himself. He wants revenge; most of all, he wants to save his own skin. From now on, you need to have an officer present at your location at all times. I don't want to take any chances."

Mai put up her hand. "What about school?"

"Even school. It won't be obvious, it will just be another face in the background, that's all."

After Sinead's talk, I could tell the others at SPR looked a little nervous, but they didn't let it affect them.

"So…I didn't know your cousin was an officer." Ayako remarked.

"She's more of…a liaison officer." I explained. "She travels a lot."

"And she's a spiritual officer. A bit like us." Yasuhara went on. "You never told us that."

"Sorry. It just never occurred to me to tell you."

"How does she know Naru-kun?" Masako asked, interested.

"Actually, I have no idea. I didn't even realise they knew each other prior to this."

"She's very pretty." Yasuhara commented.

I smiled. "I'm sure she'd be flattered."

"Is she single?" Mai asked.

"No. She's in a relationship with Conor."

"Oh…" Mai and Yasuhara nodded in fascination. "Do you know anything about the others?"

"Not really…" I admitted. "Sinead doesn't talk about her work much. She's really good at it, though."

"Hm?" Sinead came over and sat next to me. "I heard my name being mentioned."

"We were just wondering about your work. We heard you investigate spiritual things. What kind of things have you seen?" Mai inquired.

"Oh, a lot. Spirits are less common, but I've seen some very strange things in my time. Curses, P.K users, and a whole lot of monsters."

"Monsters?!" Mai frowned.

"Oh, yeah. Well, more…creatures that you didn't think should exist. Unnatural creatures, too. I've had to deal with trolls in Iceland and Norway, an angry gorgon in Greece, a rather unpleasant curse in Ukraine, a river serpent in India, a man who killed people by touching them, and some statues that came alive in Mexico."

"Wait…trolls and gorgons exist?!" Yasuhara exclaimed.

"Hm? What? No. Who told you that? It wasn't me." At their confused looks, she added, "I'm technically not meant to tell you that."

"So…Sinead-san…" Mai began. "What do you think of Naru-kun?"

"Olly? Hm. He's ok. He can be a bit irritating sometimes. You tell him not to do something, and he'll do it anyway. And he can be quite insensitive."

"What was that?" We looked up, to see Kazuya standing there, arms crossed.

"Nothing." Sinead reassured him. "Was there something you wanted?"

"I just wanted to speak to Brown-san about something." Sinead frowned, but said nothing.

"Sure, what is it?"

He gestured with his head to a different part of the room, so I stood up and followed him there. We were out of earshot from the others.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"…What do you know about Roku Monsuta?"

I remembered Sinead's warning. "What Sinead told us, I guess."

"When was the first time you heard about it?"

"Um…just now, I think…"

He frowned, but remained quiet. "What did you find at the Ward?"

Immediately, my mind flashed to the woman with the blood running down her arms rather than the writing, and I shuddered.

"…A lot. There were spirits."

"Spirits?"

"Yeah. They didn't say much."

"…Matsuzaki-san." Kazuya called over.

"Yeah?"

"Would it be possible to perform a sacred tree purification?"

"Yeah, there were more than two elders there."

"Do you think you could cleanse the spirits of the Ward?" I asked.

"Of course. Should I do it now?"

In the end, Ayako performed her exorcism the next day. Chosovi escorted her to the Ward, where a few officers were still collecting evidence.

"This place…" Ayako looked at it in disgust. It sent shivers down her spine.

"So…how does this work?" Chosovi asked in interest. "I've seen many rituals, but this is completely new to me."

Suddenly self-conscious, Ayako explained the ritual briefly, while Chosovi listened intensely. Some of the police officers stopped what they were doing and listened in, puzzled, before shaking their heads and continuing with their work.

"I see…you know, it's been a long, long time since someone's been able to do this." Chosovi explained.

"You seem knowledgeable in these kind of things." Ayako commented.

"Yes, you could say it's my expertise as part of Sinead's team. Ancient rituals and cultures."

Another police officer glanced at her in bemusement, but did not say anything.

"Where shall we set up?"

Ayako looked uneasily at the rubble. "…A little closer to the trees, I think."

Once in the safety of the forest, Ayako felt at ease, like an ice cold grip had been clenched around her lungs, stopping her from breathing, and now she welcomed its absence.

Putting her hands together, taking a deep breath, Ayako began the ritual.

At the SPR office, we waited anxiously for Ayako to ring us. She had arrived safely at the Ward, but we had not heard about whether or not her exorcism had worked. I could not get the thoughts of Saburou or the colleague out of my head, though. Would we be attacked? When? How? And somehow, I felt it was all my fault. Everyone as SPR was in danger because of me. What would I –

"John." Houshou interrupted my train of thoughts. "Relax. Everything is going to be fine."

I smiled weakly and nodded. "…Ok."

Houshou smiled back, and gave my hand a squeeze. Today, it was just me, Houshou and Sinead at the office, with Kazuya and Lin. Everyone else from SPR were gone – Ayako was at the Ward, Mai was at school, and Yasuhara was accompanying Masako to the abandoned house again, to try and talk to the spirits there. So far, they hadn't had much luck.

The rest of Sinead's crew were keeping watch over us diligently, but it didn't erase my nervousness. What's more, at times, I would find Kazuya staring at me. It was like he suspected I knew more about Roku Monsuta than I was letting on, and that worried me. If he realised that I had found out something important at the Ward, he might try the hypnotic suggestion again. And after last time…

"Hey." Houshou peered at me. "You ok?"

Without meaning to, I glanced over at Kazuya again, who was looking at me again.

"Yeah. I just…"

Houshou sensed my uneasiness. "We can talk about it later, if you want."

I nodded. "That would be good." Houshou wasn't the only one who had noticed my nervousness; Sinead had, too.

"Hey…" She came over. "To take your mind off things, could you do me a favour? Could you ring Hara-san and Yasuhara-san again, just to check they're ok? I know that Eliot and Andy are with them, but even so…"

"Yeah, sure." I dialled in the number, almost dreading what I would hear. Would the phone not answer, and we'd go around to find that Saburou had attacked, and…

"Hello?"

Yasuhara had answered the phone. Thank goodness. "Hi, it's John. I was just calling to check everything was ok."

"Yeah, everything's fine. Although we're not having much luck with the séance."

"Oh…do you know why?"

"No. Hara-san isn't sure. She says that they just aren't active today, but she can't be certain. At least we have that information from last time."

"Hm?" What information?

"Oh, we didn't tell you in the end, did we? When you were…at the Ward with Bou-san…Hara-san and I came here, to the abandoned house, and did a séance. We talked to a spirit called Ritsuka Amane."

Ritsuka. My heart sank when I remembered her, and that she had died. "Yes…I knew her…"

"And, well…she told us that you…went into an office…and you learnt some important things."

I went into an office? I found my heart speeding up. "What kind of things?"

"I'm not too sure…but she said that you found out colleague-san's name."

My blood froze. I had found out that? Was this why the colleague had been so desperate to kill me?

"Oh…that's strange…" I found myself glancing at Kazuya again. If Yasuhara and Masako had told him what Ritsuka had said, was this why he suspected I knew something important?

"Well, we'd better go. I'll ring later." Yasuhara carried on, oblivious to my shock.

"Ok…bye…" I hung up the phone, troubled. I knew the colleague's name? Of course. Sinead had said that he knew when to let go of a grudge if it was small. Why had he been chasing me, then? After all, I was just a patient at the Ward. I had ended up there the way Matthew had and Ritsuka had; we were threats. But he never showed any interest in them. So why me? This had to be it. He was told I knew his name, and when I escaped, decided I had to pay. It made sense now.

"Well?" Sinead asked, snapping me out of my revelation. "Is everything ok?"

"They're fine, but they can't seem to contact any of the spirits." I reported.

"Well, at least they're safe. I know Conor is a bit concerned."

"Why is that?" I asked, feeling worry grab me quickly.

"He's at Taniyama-san's school, but he says he's having trouble keeping an eye on her. There's some kind of festival or event going on, and the students are all gathered in one place."

Houshou paled. "Is it an open festival?"

I looked at Houshou, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"In Japan, at lot of schools have at least one festival a year. It's kind of a competition, you could say, and they're sometimes open to the public. The main one, Bunkusai, is held in November, but sometimes schools have more than one."

Sinead quickly dialled in Conor's number. "…Conor? Is it an open festival?..." She turned to us. "It is." Then she spoke to Conor again. "Try and find Mai Taniyama as quick as you can. If it's an open festival, then there's a chance that Saburou could have gone in. He's clever, so he might try and figure out a way to abduct her in the chaos, when he knows you'll have difficulty keeping an eye on her."

"Damn it." Houshou put his hand to his head. "Why didn't she tell us there was a festival?"

Sinead waited patiently but anxiously for Conor to ring again and bring her up to speed, while I felt dread rising swiftly in me. Was Mai alright? Had Saburou gotten her?

"What's going on?" Kazuya walked over to us, arms folded. Lin was following closely behind him.

"Mai-kun didn't tell us there was going to be a festival in her school." Houshou explained solemnly. "Gillard-san is having difficulties keeping an eye on her. And it's an open festival."

Kazuya squared his jaw, but said nothing. "An open festival?"

As Houshou nodded, Kazuya glanced down. His eyes darted back and forth, as if he was thinking about something, debating whether or not to take a certain form of action. Finally, when he made his decision, he looked up. I did not like his look of grim determination.

"This needs to end. We're all in danger." He said, and his tone was forced and steely. "John. I know that last time, it didn't go well…"

At once, I knew what he was going to ask. Exasperatedly, I began to protest, "Kazuya…I don't think…"

"Listen. This time, there will be no interruptions. No chances of sabotage."

"Wait, are you suggesting that hypnotic technique again?!" Houshou questioned, sounding outraged.

"I wasn't talking to you."

"He's not doing it! Do you really want to put him through that again?!"

"I said, I wasn't speaking to you."

"Hypnotic suggestion is a bad idea! Didn't you learn that last time?!"

"It was your fault that the incident happened in the first place."

"What, you're blaming me again?!"

"Please…you two…" Their arguing was putting me further and further on edge. I couldn't explain why, but the shouting made my pulse race.

"Hey." Sinead interrupted. She looked grave. "I've bad news."

The dread that had been rising up in me reached its peak. "No…" I whispered, horrified.

She nodded sombrely. "Conor can't find her anywhere. We sent Winter in to help, but…there was no luck."

The blood had drained from Houshou's face. "You mean…"

"Yes. We think she's been taken."