CASE ONE
Lonely Girl II

Kohaku sat at the kitchen table, sipping her coffee. On the table, papers were spread out, various information on the inn from the day before written and printed on each sheet.

"I just don't get it," Reiko murmured, picking up a random sheet and reading its contents over. "The blessing should've worked. It's not like I'm angry it didn't but-"

"You hate being called a fake," Kohaku filled in Reiko's unsaid thoughts, a small knowing smile lighting her face. "Just about anyone could see that by the way you stormed out yesterday."

"I did not storm out yesterday," she defended herself, brushing a strand of short dark brown hair from her face. Glancing at Kohaku, she tilted her head slightly before giving in. "Yeah, I guess I did kinda storm out. But it was justified-wasn't it?" Holding her head in her hands, Reiko stared down at the light colored wooden table. "You were always the people person…" she groaned.

"Nah," Kohaku said, wincing at the hot liquid she'd sipped. "But you've always been a better liar than I am. You may not be a people person but you can fake being one." Reiko smiled at that. "I'd probably sit in a corner or something. Maybe it's just some lingering teenager left on me." She chuckled lightly.

Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, and she began glancing at each paper on the table. "I think I've got something," she answered Kohaku's unsaid question. "You remember how the girl jumped off the balcony?" She picked up a paper and scanned it quickly before gathering a few others and standing abruptly. "So why was there a pool of blood in the room? I mean, it could be anything but… it seems suspicious. Follow me." Sighing, Kohaku rose from her comfortable spot, setting her empty cup in the sink before grabbing a light jacket and following her sister.

"I dunno Rei, are we really going to go all the way back out there?" she asked skeptically, eyeing Reiko who was throwing her shoes on.

"Yup. I'm tired of being called a fake. So, I'll prove that I can do this myself."

A flash of white passed by Kohaku's left eye as she waited in the car for Reiko to do her business at the inn. A quick grey and red blur followed, and then the darkness in her left eye that she was used to. A pounding headache from behind her eye came after and the girl held her head in one hand, wincing. "The hell is happening?" she questioned quietly to herself, a hand resting on the door handle. She managed to grip it shakily in her fingers, pulling it and opening the door. Pushing herself out, she walked slowly and steadily to the inn, and although the door was only thirty feet or so from where they were parked, the increasing pain in her head made it seem like miles. When she finally reached the door and passed through it, her eyes snapped open to find the people from yesterday having some discussion.

But the strange part was that the headache was gone. Just disappeared.

Great, she thought in annoyance. Now I look like I stumbled in here for nothing.

"Hello, Kohaku," Reiko greeted, raising a hand. Muttering to herself, the girl straightened and walked over to her sister.

"Oh? So this is the little sis," said a man with sandy brown hair. I waved, a small smile forced on my face. Several moments passed before Reiko patted her back forcefully.

"It's alright, she's just been asleep for a while," she explained, sending me a sideways glance. My eyes swept over the group of people once more; I didn't see that boy with the black hair, and thankfully neither inn owner was present.

"I see you made some new friends," Kohaku attempted to joke. "I guess you've put me farther down on the priorities list again~"

"Perhaps."

"Ahh, you wound me, sister." Kohaku placed a hand to her forehead dramatically. "By the way, what is it that you figured out?"

"The girl," Reiko began. "I think, did not commit suicide."

"But we saw her ghost jumping from the balcony-"

"Running through the balcony," the medium corrected. "If she committed suicide there, why was there the pool of blood in room thirteen?"

"Because it's cursed!" came the shrill voice of Kazue. "I've told you! It's that damned number!"

"I did some research. The girl, Namida Haruko, had parents with past histories of abuse. After she died here thirty years ago, her parents went missing, just like that. Absolutely nowhere to be found. This building used to be three different apartments, the one containing room thirteen belonging to the Namida family." Reiko paused for a moment. "There was an awful lot of blood on that carpet. I say-"

"Wait," Kohaku interrupted, holding a finger up. "I thought you said there wasn't any more blood on the carpet?"

"I lied to make you stop whining, dummy. I laid my bag on the stain to cover it up and when we went to eat, they replaced the carpet." Staring blankly at her sister, she continued. "I say that the parents tried to kill Haruko-chan, and-"

The red-haired woman suddenly spoke up. "But then that doesn't explain-"

"I'm tired of being interrupted, damn it!" She didn't continue. "Anyway, what I believe is that the parents tried to kill her. Haruko-chan tried to run, but…" Reiko glanced up at the balcony. "She wasn't looking where she was going and broke through the railing."

For a moment it was silent before a voice rang out above them. "Impressive, Shizuma-san." Kohaku looked up to find the boy from before standing there. He walked down the stairs, coming to a stop before her. "You figured it out hours after we did." Reiko raised an eyebrow.

"What, so you're done here is what you're saying?"

"Something like that." The teenage boy smirked.

"You're Shibuya Kazuya, right? The… head of this whole operation?" Reiko gestured to the people standing around the room.

"That is correct."

"So, has the girl crossed over yet?" Reiko asked, glancing at Kohaku for a moment before returning her gaze to Kazuya.

"After she found that we knew her parents killed her, she went immediately. Your purification probably didn't work because she wanted someone to know," said the man with the sandy hair. "Poor girl."

All was quiet for a moment before they heard Kazue speak up, a frazzled Jin now by her side. "So that ghost's gone?" The woman looked like she was fighting not to roll her eyes at the supposed solution, but instead pointed towards the door. "All of you ghost busting kids can get out, then. You're too loud."

With that, the woman turned around and went back to their suite, her husband following.

"Mai, you did get all the things in the van, right?" the black haired teen asked the little brunette girl that Kohaku truly hadn't noticed standing there before.

"Yup! It's all in there, Naru!" she said cheerfully, seemingly used to her boss's air of superiority.

Wait… Naru?

"I thought you-" Reiko was cut off quickly.

"Since our work is done here, we can leave."

"Jeez, you don't have to interrupt people all the time, you egotistical, narcissistic, stuck-up jerk…" The rest of the girl's tirade was lost on their ears as she moved out of earshot.

"Isn't she a lovely girl," Kohaku commented under her breath as the other members of the team left.

"Indeed she is," Reiko sighed.

Once, home, Kohaku immediately kicked her shoes off and literally fell into the sofa, groaning. Reiko, after locking the door, came to sit on the chair adjacent to the one her sister was currently occupying.

"So, what was with you earlier? You had this weird look on your face when you came inside the inn."

"Ah, it was nothing," the girl said, a bit quicker than necessary. "I was just kind of dizzy and feeling sick for a second but it passed quickly."

"I see," the medium replied, somewhat skeptical. "Well, take care of yourself is all I can say I guess. I'm going to bed." Standing and stretching, the short haired woman went upstairs. Kohaku waited until she couldn't hear footsteps anymore to sit up herself, contemplating going to bed.

A hand reached out towards her, stroking her face. It was gentle, the gesture not at all matching the gruff voice and what the owner of both was intending to do.

"I'll have it," the man said, leaning down. His face was obscured by the darkness, but she could feel all too well what he looked like. "And you can do nothing-absolutely nothing-about it.

'But I don't know this man…'

"Never," she replied, scratchy, unused voice feeling alien to her.

Gasping, Kohaku's hand flew up to her face, smacking over her left eye. Panting as her head began to feel like it'd been smashed by a car, she whimpered, slowly easing her body down onto the couch, pain exploding behind her eye.

The last time she remembered it being before she fell asleep was four thirty AM.

Pacing through the living room, a hand held to her head which was still aching, Kohaku anxiously waited for a call. Her cell phone held tightly in her other hand, a picture placed between her first hand and her head, the frazzled girl sat down for a moment, only to stand up and begin pacing again.

"Reiko? Reiko, where are you?"

"I don't know where she is! She's just gone!"

"Please call me if you get absolutely anything."

She stared down at herself and her sister, the picture wrinkled from her clutching it so tightly. "Rei, where are you?" she whispered sadly, tears finding their way to her eyes. She quickly wiped them away, shaking her head. Nope, she thought. Not gonna cry. She wouldn't have wanted me to.

When Kohaku had finally awoken far into the afternoon, she's searched the house for any trace of her sister, to find nothing. No note or anything, and her keys and shoes were still where they should be.

Practically jumping out of her skin as the landline began to ring shrilly, Kohaku placed a hand over her chest where she could feel her heart beating rapidly. The police department was going to call me on my cell though… Sighing dejectedly, she made her way over to the phone and picked it up, wondering who the call could be from.

"Hello?" she answered tiredly.

"Um, i-is this Shizuma Reiko?" came a timid female's voice over the phone. "The medium?"

Realizing it was a client, Kohaku habitually answered, "This is her assistant." Quickly, she explained, "Reiko-san isn't able to take any cases right now. Please leave your number and we'll-"

"You don't understand!" the woman practically yelled, and with a jump Kohaku pulled the phone from her ear, wincing as it stirred the ache in her head. "There's something evil here-" A sigh. "My husband and I own a shop within our home. It's a little trinket shop. We've heard pitter pattering through the ceiling-like little steps of an animal or something-"

"Have you considered an infestation?"

"Yes! Of course, but-but when we went to check it out in the attic, we saw this creature, this black creature with yellow eyes. It hissed at us, like a cat and then just… faded. Among other things." The woman let out a sob, and she could hear a strong male voice in the background-probably her husband. "Like-like things in the shop will start hovering in mid-air and fly off and break! And in th-the basement, this black mass, that's shaped like a human will appear. And… please! Please help us!"

Hearing the woman in such distress made her sad, but there was nothing she could do. As politely as she could, she told the woman, "I'm very sorry for what's been happening at your shop. Unfortunately, something had happened to Reiko-san and she can't take cases right now. But like I said, if it's possible, I'll take your number and get back to you as soon as we can start taking cases again. Okay?"

Sniffling, the woman gave Kohaku her number and hung up. The woman's sobs echoed in her ears and she had the passing feeling that the woman's case was worse than she thought.

-end-

I was going to wait a week to put this chapter up, but I just couldn't wait... Anyway, was this one any good? Please tell me, I need to know… (sort of).

Next chapter: Mai, you're so clumsy! Hey SPR! What're you doing here?