(A/N): Happy 40th Chapter Anniversary! Whew, 40 chapters! When I started writing, I didn't think I would get to 40 chapters! And thank you so much for sticking through with this story for 40 chapters! :D
So, it's the Easter holidays, and I have spent a lot of it revising so far (though I haven't been off for that long). Today was biology and history revision, and it has been a complete bore. I hate revising, it's so tedious. :(
Yay character development from a certain character! (You'll see later) Said character gets a little development in the anime, but not as much as I would like, and we know almost virtually nothing about them, so it will be interesting to give my own headcanons in a later story...
This was a pretty tough chapter, because 1) I had to write about an experience that I am fortunate enough not to have experienced and 2) for the other tricky part of the chapter, I had to link into law things. Literally the only law terminology or procedures I know about are from playing the Ace Attorney games and the occasional episode of Law and Order, so it was quite a challenge.
Houshou and John are at the stage in their relationship where they are finishing each other's SANDWICHES (My younger sister is really into Frozen right now and she won't stop singing the songs...It's almost as bad as when she watched Tangled non-stop.)
Review answer time! Unfortunately, this may possibly be the last review answer time (I can't say for sure, maybe, maybe not) because next chapter I may not have time to do one, so sorry about that.
To CatMaz: Sorry about the wait - it took longer to upload than I originally thought! I'm glad you've been finding this exciting :)
To Ananans: Thank you, I've been planning it for a while!
To NaginiFay: Hmm that doesn't sound like a bad idea, I might just do that...
To 14AmyChan: Sorry about making you cry :( and yeah, when I first gave Kazuki his name, I was thinking "I should give him a name that isn't similar to any other name in the anime/manga" but unfortunately I forgot about 'Kazuya', since I think of him as 'Naru' but John refers to him as either Kazuya or Shibuya (I think it depends if you are reading the manga or watching the anime) so sometimes I misread it as 'Kazuya' wen I am reading back over what I have written and I get so confused :P
To WhisperToTheWolves: I feel so glad when people notice that, I've been planning to do this for absolutely ages - since I first started planning out the story, in fact!
To Good Anonymous: Phew, that's ok then :) I haven't actually read the light novels myself, though I think they're not hugely different to the manga. And thank you!
To Lizzy: Your review really made me laugh, thank you :)
To Raven's Shadow: I know I can't stop crying over Kazuki now, I really wish I had thought it through and realised "Actually it's gonna be really sad if I kill this character". And thank you so much, I always feel happy when I get one of your reviews :D And yeah, it is good and bad at the same time when you connect to your characters. I hope the good comes out more in the next chapters.
Thank you so much for reading, following, favouriting and reviewing this story, even 40 chapters later! I'm so glad to have such nice readers like yourself!
Without further ado, I present to you chapter 40!
I have to run. He's going to catch me.
I'm running, as fast as I can. He's after me. No one can protect me. Not Kazuki, not Houshou, not Sinead. They're gone. Everyone is gone.
I'm scared. But everything hurts. I can barely run without tripping. He's getting closer.
No. If he catches me, he'll put me back in the silent room. I don't want to go back there.
But it's too late. He's caught me.
"No! Let me go!" I scream, but he's dragging me away. I can see the silent room now.
"No! No! Somebody, please! Help me!" But no one can help me. He's opening the door. No. No. Don't put me in there. Don't put me in there.
"John! John, wake up!"
My eyes flew open, and I became aware of my screaming. Abruptly, I stopped, panting and shaking. I wasn't there. I was at Houshou's apartment. Not at the Ward.
Houshou was in front of me, hands on my shoulder, looking at me in concern.
"Wh…What…" I tried to speak, but found I couldn't.
"It's ok." Houshou looked tired, and I realised it was the middle of the night, or possibly early morning, and that I was curled up in the corner again. "Was it…the anechoic chamber?"
Shuddering, I nodded. Even now, I couldn't escape it.
"Do you feel any better?" He asked, sitting next to me.
The nightmare had set off a huge surge of panic within me, and now I struggled to calm down the adrenaline in my system. I found I couldn't.
"…No…" I whispered, feeling pathetic. "I'm sorry for waking you up."
"Don't apologise." Houshou wrapped and arm around me. "It's fine."
Leaning against him, I nodded miserably.
"Can I ask…how did you get out?"
"Kazuki. H-He found me and got me out. I-If he hadn't…they would have just l-left me there…" I couldn't even control the stutter in my voice whenever I talked about it.
"Sorry. I won't ask about that again. What about the Ward itself? How did you escape?"
"Kazuki and I…we tried to escape together." My voice became easier to control. "He told me about the fires. Osaki-san was meant to be watching the lab the day we tried to escape. We were almost out, though, when he saw us. He lured Kazuki into the lab, and…God, it was a mess. There was glass everywhere, and flames and smoke. And Kazuki was bleeding really badly. Osaki-san was…going to kill him." I shuddered at the thought.
"What did you do?" Houshou asked, wide eyed.
"I threw a sheet over him." At Houshou's bemusement, I added, "It happened to be on fire."
"Ouch. Wow, we got ourselves a badass over here." He nudged me and, despite myself, I smiled. "What happened after that? Did you manage to escape?"
Sighing, I shook my head. "Not quite…Osaki-san grabbed me by the neck." Automatically, I placed my hand by my neck. The mark had completely gone now. "He…started to…"
"Strangle you." Houshou finished for me, which I was thankful for.
"Mm. Then…I'm not really sure what happened…I think Kazuki saved me. He stopped Osaki-san…but then I was thrown back, and I hit my head. I think I fell unconscious. After that, when I woke up…I couldn't remember anything."
Houshou nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe…maybe, when you hit your head…it caused the memories to be supressed."
"Maybe." I closed my eyes, and exhaled. "...Sorry for waking you up. You can go if you want."
"No, it's ok. I'll stay here."
"…Thanks." I rested my head against him, feeling his warmth. Eventually, I found myself falling into a restless sleep. It was still filled with images of Mattaku and the fire, but I would choose them over any memory of the anechoic chamber any day.
"Yakunan Soku." Sinead spoke out, as Conor distributed some paper-backed files among her team and some other police officers, who were all crowded into a room at the police station. The building was clean on the outside, giving an air of importance with its stone steps and heavy doors, but on the inside, it was chaotic and filled with bustling officers escorting suspects and witnesses alike.
My presence at the police station resulted in a somewhat hostile, nervous and puzzled reaction from the police officers there, and it was only through Sinead's insistence that I should be there that stopped them from throwing me out, since I was one of the few people who had actually met the colleague. As a civilian, a few of the officers resented my presence, and would give me some cold stares. What unnerved me more than their hostile reaction, though, were the officers who would stare at me, and when I glanced at them, would quickly avert their gaze, with guilt-ridden expressions. It occurred to me that perhaps these officers were among those who refused to believe my story, or even some who were bribed by R.M itself. Even now, I could feel more than a few pair of eyes on me, and I wished that Houshou was with me, or that Sinead wasn't standing at the front, leaving me alone in the midst of the staring officers. The close proximity in which we were all crowded together did not help, and I could feel a claustrophobic-like uneasiness crawl up my spine. When I had taken my file from Conor, I had noticed my hands were trembling. They still hadn't stopped.
"Excuse me." I heard someone speak up, and found Lin brushing past the officers to stand beside me. His height and his demeanour alone seemed to remind some of the staring officers that their eyes should be on Sinead, and not me. In his hands was one of the paper-backed files, and he opened it up, tilting it towards me so I could see, even if I did have to stand on tip-toe to actually read it.
"Here." Another voice said beside me, and I turned to see Kazuya standing next to me, holding open a paper-backed file at a much more accessible level. The two of them had come to the police station with Sinead. They were rather vague about why exactly they needed to be here – I couldn't think of a reason myself – but they did mention having some kind of meeting with Sinead and one of the higher police officers. Around us, I heard a general mutter of discontent amongst the officers.
"Two kids?" One whispered to another. Like always, it seemed I had been mistaken for an adolescent. "What is this woman thinking?"
"Whatever Sinead-san is thinking, I guarantee it will be more intelligent than anything you could think up of." Kazuya replied with irritation. The officer in question turned around furiously, then stopped at the sight of Lin, and contented themselves with an angry glare.
"The man you see on the front page," Sinead pressed on, "is Yakunan Soku." I looked down at the front page, where the colleague's picture was displayed. Even on paper, his image made me shiver with disgust. At the same time, though, there was a wash of relief – the colleague was no longer a mysterious figure in the shadows. He was very much real to everyone around me.
"Age 29. Male. Japanese. Also known as colleague-san, he was the owner of a psychiatric ward in a rural village called Shiroku, just outside Tokyo. He also is a significant member of an international group called Roku Monsuta, or R.M. As of now, he is a fugitive of the law, and is suspected of psychological harassment, assault, trespassing, breaking and entering, several counts of attempted murder, consent to serial murder, assassination, execution and illegal disposal of bodies. Furthermore, he poses a threat to both individuals and to the general public."
"After a thorough investigation, it has been discovered that Soku-san was convicted of murder roughly six years ago in Sapporo, in the Hakkaido region. However, only six months into his sentence, he disappeared from solitary isolation," the words made me shudder involuntarily, "and all trace of him vanished as well. Three months later, a body turned up at the morgue, burnt beyond recognition. After some DNA tests went out, the body was supposedly confirmed to be Soku-san's."
An officer raised her hand. "So, you're saying that he killed a person, burnt the body, left it at the morgue, and faked DNA results?"
"With the help of Roku Monsuta, it would have been a fairly easy task." Sinead replied. "Forensics managed to pull some prints from the burnt wreckage of Mattaku Psychiatric Ward, where he worked, and have confirmed that Yakunan Soku and colleague-san are in fact the same person."
"But," another police officer raised his hand, "how will that help us find out his name?"
"Despite his 'death', there was a bank account still opened in his name. Lawyers claimed to police officers investigating Soku-san's 'death' that the money in the bank account had become the property of one of Soku-san's cousins. Later on, most of the money was transferred to a bank account under the name of Hiroto Sato, which is one of Soku-san's alter egos. From there, a large sum of money was transferred to the previous owner of Mattaku Psychiatric Ward. We can assume that this was Yakunan Soku himself. Moreover, on May 1st, a large sum of money was taken out of the bank account, and was used to pay for an accommodation in Saitama. We believe he is there now."
"It is vital that we find this man as soon as possible. He is a threat to the public, and has already shot three members of the public, one of which is in a coma. A group of officers are already investigating this accommodation in Saitama, but be prepared nonetheless. His violence has been slowly escalating. We've already faced one hostage situation, and I would hate to face another."
After the police officers had dispersed, I hurried over to Sinead.
"Hmm…" She watched the police officers leave. "Some of them are still very wary of us."
"Why would they be wary of us?" I asked.
"Well, they feel a bit on pressure, since they didn't believe you about the situation – twice – and as a result, people almost died. In fact, because they didn't believe you, a lot of people did die."
"What did you say about the officers searching the accommodation in Saitama?" Kazuya asked.
"Ah, yes. Andy and Eliot have gone to Saitama, and they're planning on doing a raid when a swat team reaches them. But we can't guarantee anything. There is a high chance he'll have devised some rouse to escape if confronted."
Biting my lip, I nodded. "But," Sinead continued, "now that everyone knows what he looks like, it will be a lot easier to catch him if he appears in public."
"And it will be hard for him to attack you with the presence of so many police officers." Kazuya added.
To be honest, it wasn't just my own safety I was concerned about. The colleague had already made it very clear that he was going to target my friends and family as part of his revenge scheme. We needed to find him, before he hurt somebody else.
"Um, chief?" The Austrian officer, Lukas, appeared around the corner, looking nervous. "The, uh, the police chief wants to talk to you, Conor, Shibuya-san and Koujou-san."
"Of course." Sinead and Conor followed him as he walked away. As they left, Kazuya tapped me on the shoulder.
"Hm?"
"John…" After a moment, I realised that the lack of an honorific meant he wanted to discuss something serious. However, he looked hesitant.
"Is something the matter?" I asked.
"I'm sorry." His words were unexpected. "I was wrong. I shouldn't have done the hypnotic suggestion."
For a minute, I was stunned. I knew Kazuya was not one for such words, or at least openly admitting them.
"…It's ok." Sometimes, I forgot that he was younger than me – barely even an adult, in fact. And I knew how bad it was to shoulder too much guilt. "Actually, it wasn't the hypnotic suggestion that…made it happen."
"I am still responsible –"
"No one is responsible." I interjected. "…It was going to happen." I exhaled. "We all knew it was."
Kazuya nodded, but looked troubled. He glanced down at my hands, which were still trembling, and I hid them behind my back. "Kazuya, I trust your judgement. I always have. Something bad happened. But that doesn't mean I don't trust your judgement. And please, please, don't think I will hold this against you. Even if you make a mistake, it won't lower my opinion of you. How you treat others is far more important than a mistake."
Slowly nodding, Kazuya muttered, "I will keep that in mind. Thank you. I should…" He moved away, looking a little embarrassed.
Beside me, Lin grunted. "…It's easy to forget just how young he is."
"Mm. He shoulders a lot for someone his age."
Lin glanced at me. "He's the type to take…mistakes…very badly. I know the others think him to be narcissistic, but he actually regrets his mistakes a lot more than he values his triumphs." I listened in interest. "Of course, he doesn't like people knowing about his…"
"Insecurities?" I finished.
"You could say that. Because his background and his situations are so different from most people…his entire manner, too…people don't seem to understand his thoughts and reactions. They're…complicated right now. But, at the same time, people seem to forget that he is only a child, and he's only human."
I smiled sadly. "You're right." Kazuya was a very difficult person to understand, in some ways. But, in the end, he was just a person, like the rest of us. With strengths and weaknesses, just like everyone else. Some parts of him were fragile, some were as tough as rock. But most people were like that, weren't they?
A thought occurred to me. "Lin-san…may I ask, remember when you picked me up from the burial site in Shiroku?"
"Yes."
"You told me about having to accept something. What did you mean?"
Lin didn't respond for a moment. At first, I wondered if he was ignoring my question, when he suddenly turned to me. His hand moved, and initially I flinched. Lin hesitated, before slowly placing his hand onto my shoulder.
"…Kazuya and I, we suspected that your friends, Brooks-san, was involved in your disappearance. Kazuya wanted to tell you straight away, but…to find out about a betrayal by someone you trusted, someone you loved…it hurts. A lot. And it shouldn't be something to be so flippantly revealed. I wanted you to figure it out for yourself."
As he explained, I realised that his enigmatic words made much more sense now. And what he said…it sounded like he was talking from experience.
"In the end, he wasn't a bad person, was he?" He asked.
"No. He got me out of there. He died trying to save me."
"I assume he…amended his mistakes, then?"
"Yes. More than that."
He smiled slightly, and I realised that this was much more than he usually said. It seemed Lin was a wise person, and more caring than he looked. Then why did he always act so…reserved? Before I could say anything further, he walked over to Kazuya, leaving me confused, wondering about his character and why he was so determined to hide it.
Later on, when almost everyone had gone, Sinead took me back to Houshou's apartment. Houshou himself was at the hospital for a quick check up and for some pain killers, since his ribs had been causing him no end of grief. Sinead had suggested having something to eat, although I passed. I wasn't hungry, and eating would make me feel sick.
Outside, it was raining gently, and the soft pattering of the rain against the window had never seemed so comforting to me. Sitting on the sofa, watching the rain, I found the noise of each drop of rain kept the thoughts of the silent room at bay from mind.
"Hey." I looked up, and saw Sinead. As she sat next to me, she asked, "…How are you feeling?"
Exhaling, I didn't look at her. "…It's hard."
I felt her hand slowly lower onto my shoulder, her touch softer than the rain, and somehow, I didn't flinch from her. Instead, I looked her way.
"…I'm sorry. I never got a chance to talk to you about it."
"Why should you be sorry?"
"Because you're scared." She shifted herself, so she was facing me properly. "We both know what that memory will have done for you."
I shivered involuntarily, and looked away. "…Mm."
"…There will be a long list. Your reactions have been bad, and it's only been one day. You've had nightmares, you wake up screaming –"
"You heard?" I asked guiltily.
"Yes. I wasn't sleeping anyway." She added. "You always flinch. I saw you talking to Lin. I saw you flinch from him."
I nodded, and she continued. "…This is bad. We could be talking anxiety problems, paranoia, maybe even depression. I would say you might even be suffering from a mild case of PTSD. And…a relapse is possible."
I paled. "Y-You think…"
"Perhaps. I know…you haven't been eating very much recently. You've lost weight over the past few weeks, and this morning you ate very little. At lunch, you ate almost nothing, and you just refused food now. Have you even noticed that you've been eating less?"
I shook my head fervently, and she continued. "You don't even realise, but you're slipping. And I don't want you to fall."
For a moment, we fell quiet. Only the sound of the rain stopped me from feeling nervous about the lack of noise.
Finally, I spoke up. "…I think the only reason I haven't fallen yet…is because I have you. I have Houshou. I have people who will help me get through." This didn't always feel true. Sometimes, I felt like no one would understand, or that I'd be rejected or scorned at for my fears.
Sinead smiled bitterly. "I haven't done much for you."
"Just you…being here makes me feel safer. It's…" I swallowed. "It's much more than they ever had. The others." I stopped, inhaling sharply, and pinched the bridge of my nose.
Sinead put her arm around me, and I rested against her. "Why did I get to live, but they had to die?" I whispered. "Why?"
"I don't know." Was her simple answer. Nothing more was said.
After another restless night, the next day was exhausting. Getting up was a feat in itself. I just wanted to remain in the corner. Not because I wanted to sleep, but because I didn't want to get up. Eventually, I forced myself up, and took a shower. The water running down my face and my body was refreshing, although I had to be careful with my various cuts and bruises. Regardless, it was satisfying watching the dirt and traces of blood get washed down the drain.
As I got dressed in Houshou's room, since Sinead and Conor, who had been staying over, had claimed the spare room, I placed my rosary beads carefully around my neck, relishing their coolness against my skin. Last night's light rain had washed away a feeling of grunge in the city, without being heavy and clogging the streets. The window was open a little, and the air was fresher than it normally was.
As I did up my belt – these jeans were getting loose – I briefly wondered about seeing everyone from SPR. At the back of my mind, thoughts about Mattaku and the colleague and solitary isolation niggled at me, trying to get my attention, but I ignored them, instead allowing my co-workers to take up my thoughts. Had anyone told them about the bodies at the abandoned house? If not, how would they react if we did tell them?
I took one of the beads of my rosary in my hands, and began to pray, starting with the crucifix, and working my way around the beads. The repetition of the prayers always calmed me.
When I had finished, I heard someone coughing, and turned to see Houshou standing sheepishly in the door way, leaning against his crutches.
"Um," He coughed again, "Sorry for disturbing you, but I just needed to tell you, Naru-kun wants us to meet with the rest of SPR."
"Oh. When?" Suddenly self-conscious, I scrambled around for a shirt. In response, Houshou grabbed one of his own jumpers and threw it to me.
"Uh, pretty soon. But he can wait until you're ready."
Quickly, I pulled on the bottle green jumper he had given me, and rolled up the hem of the sleeves. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, of course. Have you eaten?"
"Not yet." I wiped some of the moisture off my face that had come from my wet hair. "I can eat later."
"Nah, it's fine. You don't need to rush." I followed him into his kitchen. This time, only Sinead was present. She was sitting at the table, sipping tea and leafing through a Japanese newspaper. With the gentle day light streaming through a window, and the freshness of the new May morning, the atmosphere should have felt serene. Only her gun, just visible underneath the jacket she was wearing, slightly impaired the sense of calmness.
"Good morning." She greeted me as I sat down opposite her. "How did you sleep?"
"…Mm…" I grunted noncommittally.
"I hear Oliver wants to talk to you and the rest of SPR."
"Yeah. What does he want to talk about?"
"Hm." Sinead pondered it, as she took a sip of tea. "My guess…would be about the abandoned house."
"What about it?" Houshou asked.
"Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but you are part of a paranormal research team, and you investigate paranormal things. Like spirits." Her tone was dripping with sarcasm.
"Oh, does he want to try and help cleanse the building?" I wondered.
"Most probably." Sinead guessed. "I will be there with you, just in case, and you won't be able to go down the trap door. There might be a few scientists lingering around, but you should have no trouble."
An hour later, we had driven to the SPR office, where everyone was waiting for us. As we walked in, I felt assured to see that Agent Chosovi was present among them today, along with what seemed to be a local Japanese officer.
"You're late." Kazuya told us.
"We're not dogs, running to your beck and call." Sinead retaliated, and he let the matter slide.
I looked past him, to where the rest of SPR were sitting around the office table.
"Oh, hi John-kun!" Mai asked cheerily. "How are you?" From her tone, I guessed that no one had told them about the hypnotic suggestion, much to my relief.
"I'm good." I said weakly. "And you?"
"We're all right." Ayako answered as we sat down. She motioned to Kazuya with her head. "He's a little…irritable right now, so don't mind him."
"Maybe I wouldn't be so irritable if you all stopped badgering me with your questions." Kazuya snapped.
Mai cheerfully ignored him. "Anyway, we heard that you found out colleague-san's name! Does this mean you can find him?!"
I glanced at Sinead. "Well," she began, "it certainly increases our chances. It will be able to track any paper trails he leaves behind, but even so, we'll have to do this quickly, before he slips into the shadows again. In fact, Agent Eliot Canizares and Agent Andrea Dawn took part in a raid last night."
I listened in interest as she explained. "They were unable to catch him, but they're steadily on his tail, and it won't be long until they manage to figure out his location again."
So he got away. My disappointment was quelled by the excitement of the others.
"That's great!" Mai exclaimed.
"There's only so many times he can escape. You're going to catch him soon." Yasuhara agreed, grinning. In a sense, he was right. The colleague was running out of places to hide. Sooner or later, preferably sooner, the colleague was going to get caught.
"Good as it is, this is not what I wanted to talk about." Kazuya spoke up. He stood in front of us all.
"I want us to go back to the abandoned house." He announced. So Sinead was right.
"The abandoned house? But, I thought the owner didn't want us going there." Mai remarked.
"That didn't stop you going there later on." Kazuya pointed out, and she and Yasuhara exchanged guilty looks. "Besides, I really don't think the owner is going to care about that at this point."
Masako suddenly looked concerned. "…What is it? What did you find?"
Kazuya glanced briefly at me, then Sinead, before addressing Masako. "…It's not good. We found bodies. Lots of them."
The others stared at Kazuya. Masako, appalled, looked away, shaking her head.
"Terrible." She said quietly. "That's terrible."
After a moment of silence from them, during which I concentrated on my breathing, Mai finally spoke up.
"…Are they still there?" She asked. "I-I mean, the spirits?"
"Yes, they are. And that is why we are going."
Ayako frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I want to attempt a cleansing." Kazuya explained. "They've been there long enough. I think it's about time that they get help to move on."
"Uhh…why am I here, then?" Yasuhara asked.
"It appears, despite Agent Canizares' best efforts, the media has managed to get a hold of some rumours about bodies being found at the abandoned house. Without her presence, it will be even harder to control them."
"So you want him to be the stand in? Like always?" Mai tutted.
Kazuya ignored her. "You have a way with people. All I want you to do is find a way to keep them at bay. Give them something else interesting to talk about. As soon as you've managed to get rid of them, you can come back to us."
"Question." Mai raised her hand. "Why don't you get the police to do that?"
"They weren't…obliging. It seems, after their mistake, they want to avoid the media at all costs."
I saw a gleam in Yasuhara's eye, but he didn't comment on this.
"Question." Mai repeated, and put up her hand again.
Kazuya exhaled slowly, and I realised he had probably been putting up with constant questions while he was waiting for us.
"Yes, Mai-kun?"
"Why doesn't Sinead-sama or Chosovi-san do it?" At this new honorific, Sinead looked pleased.
"Because they will be busy looking after us, and the rest of Sinead-san's team are busy."
"Oh, ok…" Satisfied, Mai did not raise her hand again.
"Now," Kazuya continued, "this will be tricky to do. Unfortunately, I think the sacred trees near Mattaku will be too far away to be summoned to the house. Correct?"
"That's right." Ayako confirmed.
"That means we're going to have to attempt jourei." He looked at Masako. "Do you think it will be possible?"
Masako looked uncertain. "…It's hard to say…" She tilted her head. "For one, there are very many of them; possibly too many of them to efficiently try and help them move on. At least, it would take a very long time." She hid her mouth behind her sleeve. "And also…I don't think it will be that simple. They can only be seen by certain people, I believe."
I nodded. "You have to have felt fear."
Mai pouted. "Wait, I don't get it. We've all felt fear here. Like, real fear. So what defines one fear form another?"
"…I think that's very complicated." Kazuya spoke up. "And the levels of fear they are operating on…are different to what you think. The way I see it, this 'fear' works in two ways. Either an intense fear …a torturous fear…" His gaze locked onto me, and I squirmed under his stare.
"…Or one of fearing for the life of another, for someone you love. Almost just as torturous."
Houshou frowned. "This is going to be difficult. And I don't think the spirits want to move on just yet."
"Why?!" Mai asked, confused.
"Colleague-san." He answered her. "They want to see him pay for what he did. Until that happens, they might be reluctant to move on."
"All we can do right now is at least try to placate them to some extent, so that even if they can't move on, they at least won't be suffering as much."
"I'm afraid that is easier said than done." Masako told him. "But, you are right, we should at least try."
When we arrived at the abandoned house, the first thing we saw was the group of reporters standing outside the building. Some carrying notebooks, others with recording microphones, they were all waiting eagerly for someone to appear to interrogate.
"Hm. How troublesome." Kazuya muttered. "I think we should try and park around the back."
However, it wasn't long before they noticed our car. As Lin stalled the vehicle, they took the opportunity to crowd it, making him unable to drive any further and forcing him to turn off the engine. As Kazuya stepped out of the car, I heard one reporter ask,
"Excuse me, sir, but would you mind –"
"Talk to my associate." Kazuya interrupted brusquely, before brushing past the reporter. On cue, Yasuhara got out of the car.
"That would be me." He gave a smile that I only knew was fake from knowing him. "May I take some questions?"
There was general confusion among the reporters, and I heard someone whisper, "Him? But he's so young?" and "Shouldn't he be at school or college or something?" The bemusement at least gave the rest of us the chance to sneak into the house unnoticed.
Inside, the house was empty and derelict. I couldn't supress a shudder of disgust as I remembered the pile of bodies that were found here.
"Do you think," I heard Mai whispering to Ayako, "we'll be able to see them this time?"
"Maybe." Ayako's answer was brief and uncertain.
However, as we searched the house, it became apparent that none of us could see the spirits – they were nowhere to be found.
"What do you think, Hara-san?" Kazuya asked Masako.
Masako frowned, troubled. "…They're here. But they're not coming out."
"Are they wary of us?"
"…No…" She decided after some hesitation. "I think…they're waiting for something. Someone."
Sinead let out a sigh. "I think I'm going to keep an eye out around back. I want eyes on the road." She glanced at Chosovi. "Will you stay in here?"
Chosovi nodded. "Yes, chief." With that, Sinead left the house, going out of the back door to avoid the people at the front.
"We'll carry on looking for a while, but we'll have to be patient. If they don't want to show themselves, then there isn't much we can do." Kazuya announced. As everyone else murmured their agreement, he looked to me.
"John-san, do you want to see if Brooks-san will appear for you?"
I nodded. "I want to talk to him, anyway."
Immediately, I walked upstairs, and headed to the old bedroom where I had initially met Kazuki in his spirit form. Once more, the room was disconcertingly quiet, like the house was waiting for something; holding its breath. Neither the floor boards nor the rotting wooden doors dared to make a sound. After a minute had passed, I realised that my hands weren't just shaking from nerves, but because it was getting cold.
"Kazuki." I called gently.
"I'm here."
I turned around, to see him, standing with his hands in his pocket. He looked tired and worn-out.
"Listen." I stepped closer to him. "We've almost caught him. It's only a matter of time. But you can't stay here anymore. It's not…"
Kazuki shrugged. "Moving on isn't that simple, either. They want revenge. They're adamant on it."
"I know. But…it's not fair on you. It's not fair that, just because he's roaming free, you have to stay here."
"…How are you holding up?" He ignored what I had said.
I smiled sadly. "I remembered. I remembered you saving me. I remembered our plan to escape from that place."
"…If I had helped you escape sooner, you wouldn't have had to go in that room."
I winced at the mention of the silent room, but spoke up regardless. "That wasn't your fault. And you saved me from that room. If you hadn't…I would have…I would still…" I couldn't bring myself to finish the rest of the sentence.
He pursed his lips, but nodded. "…I just…Why did it have to end up this way?"
"I don't know." It was the only answer I could give.
"Maybe it would have been better if we hadn't met. You wouldn't have had to go through this torture. You –"
"Kazuki." I interrupted him. "There is no way I could regret meeting you. No matter what. I'm so glad I was able to spend this time with you."
He fell quiet for a little while, thinking about my answer. When he spoke up, he was smiling. A genuine yet sad smile.
"…You're right. I can't regret meeting you. I can't. That time we spent…despairing over our loneliness together…" He smiled further at this, remembering his drunken Valentine's day, "…I can't regret it. I won't regret it. I'm just sorry that it ended up this way."
"Me too." My voice felt hoarse. "I will never regret meeting you."
Downstairs, I heard voices. Yasuhara had returned from his miniature press conference, it seemed, and he had satisfied at least some of the reporters, although some were still lingering outside. I heard the bang of what I assumed was the door.
"John, listen," Kazuki sounded eager to talk to me before the others came looking for me again. "I…" He hesitated. "I really…"
Then he stopped. His eyes widened.
"…Kazuki? W-What is it?"
"…He's here." His voice was horror-stricken.
"What?" I felt a chill set over me. "Wh-what do you mean?"
"The colleague. He's here."
As soon as he said the words, something changed. The temperature plummeted. Behind the walls, inside them, nails dragged across the wood, slowly, savagely.
"You need to leave." Kazuki whispered. Downstairs, I could hear Kazuya ordering everyone
to exit the house. The whispering had begun. But this time, the voices were much more sinister.
"…Ihn töten…"
"…Punirlo, punirlo…"
"…Le tuer..."
"...Kill him..."
"...Make him pay..."
They wanted him dead. "How did he get in?" Kazuki asked.
"I don't…wait. The reporters. He was among them." It made sense. He was so hard to spot; his face was so bland, so unnoticeable. And Yasuhara didn't know what he looked like, while Sinead was around the back, not watching the front door. It would have been easy for him to slip in.
"Look, you have to go." Kazuki strode from the room, and I followed him. "Or you won't be able to leave."
"What?" He didn't answer, though.
"John!" I saw Houshou at the bottom of the stairs. "Come on! We've got to go!"
"Where are the others?" I asked him, hurrying down the stairs to him. More importantly, where was the colleague?
"Outside. Agent Chosovi is with them. Just before the whisperings started, we heard a gun shot. Your cousin was fighting someone." He talked in such fast paced Japanese, I initially struggled to understand him. "Then we heard the spirits. Who do they want to kill?"
"Colleague-san." Houshou paled. "He's here."
As we approached the door, it suddenly swung shut.
"Hey, what was that for?" Houshou called angrily. Quickly, I turned the handle.
Nothing.
"W-What…" I tried turning the handle again. It wouldn't open.
"What is it?" Houshou asked nervously.
"It won't open." I banged on the door. "Hey! Let us out!"
"You're too late." We spun around. Kazuki was standing there. "The others…they're pissed off. They don't want the colleague to escape. So they've locked the place down."
"Shit." I ran from the corridor, and towards a window. My eye fell on an old tool a builder had abandoned, a spanner. Picking it up, I swung it against the window with all my strength.
Nothing. The window remained intact.
"Shit." I hissed again. "What do we do?"
"Hm, I wonder."
I closed my eyes. That voice. I knew that voice. That deranged voice.
Slowly, I turned around.
Behind me, the colleague stood, smiling. One hand held a pistol, next to Houshou's head, who was frozen with terror. But his eyes were fixed on me.
"Hello, John." His eyes bore such an animosity, it disturbed me.
"Hello, Yakunan Soku." At his name, I saw his mouth twitch slightly. "I've been looking for you."
"I was aware. Thank you for that lovely raid." His lip curled. "I think it would be most fitting of me to return the favour."
"Oh, really?" We were trapped. No weapons, no guns, just the rusty tool in my hand. No way to leave the house, no way for anyone to enter it. Just me, Houshou, and Kazuki. The colleague wanted revenge, in the form of my death, and the spirits were baying for blood.
"Yes." The colleague smiled, and the unhinged madness behind it was frightening. "It's time to end this game, wouldn't you say?"
I steeled myself, feeling anger course through me. This 'game' had gone on long enough.
"Yes. Let's end this."