A/N I notice that in some places you might see the word 'him' rather than 'lin' I accidentally did this while using word search during editing. It'll be fixed later. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Lin: Sierra doesn't own Ghost Hunt
Sierra: If I did, you would have been much more vocal.
Lin: *just stares at me*
The situation centering around Lifen had become dire indeed if anything that her older brother, Koujo Lin, had saw in his 'dreams', was to be trusted. The aforementioned Onmyouji had not moved from his position on the hotel bed where he had previously fallen asleep. His heart still beat furiously from within his chest cavity, and his breath still came out in ragged pants. His hands had stopped shaking some, however, there was still a slight tremor as the shock began to abate. In all honesty, he was terrified that what he had just seen was true. Was he the cause of this mess? Lin didn't know for certain, and truth be told, he'd rather not have to find out if he was somehow linked. Thankfully, a voice tore him out of his reverie.
"Bad dream?" The question came from Lin's left, and hung in the air for a moment. It was Noll, who had apparently awoken from his earlier excursion.
"More or less," Lin replied, turning his head and casting a glance in his charge's direction. Oliver's face appeared paler than usual in the dimness of the room, and his blue eyes were partially closed, his hand was placed loosely on his stomach; the teenager didn't look well at all to his stoic guardian.
"Oliver, you look like you aren't feeling particularly well," he said offhandedly, though the concern was evident in his expression. Noll's eyes popped open, and he lifted them up to meet his bodyguard's gaze, as if pondering the question directed at him carefully.
"I feel slightly sick to my stomach- nothing unusual. It often happens when I use my PK. As I don't remember coming into this hotel, I assume that I lost consciousness as well?" He asked, closing his eyes again. Lin's mind replayed the events of the night before, and his expression turned down into a slight scowl.
"Yes, you did. About that-" The Onmyodo began, but was cut off by a dark sigh from his charge.
"I know," Naru said, the two words spoken in a low, clipped sounding tone. Lin's gray eyes narrowed to slits; his patience seemed to have been sapped after the dream that he had just had- he was suppressing the shock of it, and it was making him wary. He did not have the sense of calm that he normally needed when dealing with Oliver.
"If you know what I'm going to say, then why the hell did you use your psychometry? What kind of logic did you apply when you decided that it would be a good idea to do something that you knew could injure you, or worse yet, kill you?" he asked, surprised with the obvious anger that could be heard in his voice. Naru raised an eyebrow, expressing his own shock that Lin had actually gotten sharp with him- he was used to the familiar scolding after he did something that his bodyguard did not approve of, however, he had never heard his assistant take on such a harsh tone.
"I wanted to know what Mai had saw- Believe it or not, I have had times when using my PK didn't leave me in an unconscious state. I did not realize that doing so this time would cause that reaction in my body," Naru replied, clutching his stomach tighter as the sense nausea he was feeling intensified. Noticing the action, Lin stared at his charge and shook his head in disapproval.
"Fine, we can talk about this later- it appears as though you could use more time to recuperate, and I could use some more rest myself," The Onmyodo stated, his gray gaze meeting Naru's blue one. The narcissist's eyes become wide, and his features more pale. He stood up from his bed unexpectedly, before making his way towards the bathroom and slamming the door shut behind him.
Lin sighed as a memory of a time early in Oliver's training of learning Quigong, when he had accidentally used his PK, and vomited right as Luella had walked into the living room. The motherly onslaught had been epic, as she had not understood what had been ailing her son. The Onmyouji was just grateful that Oliver was old enough to realize that he was going to be sick, and quick enough to get to the bathroom this time- he did not want to have to be the one who had to call Martin to give him the bill for the carpet cleaners.
Although Naru was the cause of his own illness, as he had known that the use of his PK almost never went in his favor, Lin could still sympathize with him, as his charge had looked extremely unwell, even before seeming to feel the urge to throw up. Lin hadn't expected Noll to be sick when he awoke- that was not something that happened often, at least not to his knowledge. Although he would definitely prefer puking Oliver to 'heart has stopped and not breathing' Oliver. The former would be easier to care for than the latter.
At that moment, a groan sounded from the otherwise quite hotel room, and Lin looked up to see Mai staring at him. She blushed when she realized that the dark haired Onmyouji had noticed her staring, and the twenty-seven year old became aware of the fact that he was sitting up in bed uncovered, shirtless. With a sigh, he reached over to the bedside table where he had left his black button up shirt, and slipped his arms into it. He swung his long legs over the side of the bed and buttoned the article of clothing, then turned his head towards Mai, who met his gaze, the blush no longer present on her cheeks.
"Where's Naru?" The brunette asked, worry present in here brown eyes. Lin stared at her for a moment, choosing his words carefully, before replying.
"Bathroom," He stated simply, deciding to see if Mai understood before divulging any unnecessary details. The teen raised an eyebrow, urging her colleague to continue.
"He's not feeling very well- it appears to be a side effect of using his PK. I'll admit that its not a common one to my knowledge, but his powers can cause near unpredictable reactions in his body." Mai's face turned sad upon hearing Lin's words.
"I want to go and stay with him, do you think he would yell at me if I tried?" The young girl asked, her voice sounding more innocent than usual. Lin thought about her question honestly- he knew how much that the girl cared about Naru, and felt like she deserved a truthful answer.
"At the moment, I'm almost positive that Noll doesn't feel like yelling, though I'm not sure if he feels like having company either," Lin began, pausing to gauge Mai's reaction. Her frown had turned into a sad stare, and was directed towards the bathroom. "So in all honesty, I cannot accurately tell you how he'll react, but I won't stop you from going to check on him. Actually, taking into account how he looked earlier, that might be a good idea," he finished, adding to his previous statement.
Mai turned her head back to her co-worker, and smiled at him sadly.
"Thanks Lin," She muttered before yawning and getting out of bed. The Onmyodo inclined his head towards her before relaxing back on his own bed. He closed his eyes warily, as he was still tired from the night before, and his not so restful slumber prior to waking up. He was not sure for how long he had been dozing when the sound of someone knocking on the door to the hotel room awoke him, but it could not have been too long as Oliver and Mai had not returned from the bathroom. Either that, or his charge was just that sick, but Lin highly doubted that as Naru hadn't eaten in several hours, and could not have had much in his stomach at the time he had gotten ill.
With a sigh of aggravation, the dark haired man stood up from his bed, and made his way to the hotel room door. He paused at the bathroom door, memories of his dream flashing through his mind, but no sounds could be heard from inside. 'I wonder if he's began feethe dark haired mang better?' the dark haired man thought, then continued walking past the bathroom and then to the entrance of the room. He looked out through the peephole, and the person he saw on the other side of the door almost made him not want to open the door at all. However, for the sake of being polite, he did so anyway.
It was the receptionist from the night before- the one whom had tried flirting with Lin until the Onmyodo's agitation had gotten the better of him.
Realizing that the dark haired man had actually opened the door, the young woman smiled at him, though the expression appeared completely professional. There was none of the earlier flirtatiousness in her pale blue eyes.
"Good morning Mr. Lin," She said, her sweet voice sounding particularly gentle. Lin stared at her warily, before inclining his head politely in her direction.
"Hello Ms...," Lin said, allowing his voice to trail off, as he had not learned her name the night before, most likely due to his anger or sleep deprivation- or both. She smiled at him, although still only politely.
"My name is Hamasaki- Hamasaki Nacora, to be precise," Ms. Hamasaki replied, a slight smile gracing her lips. Lin nodded slightly, and allowed a tiny smile to appear on his face, in attempt to express that he was no longer angry due to their earlier encounter. Ms. Hamasaki smiled, seeming to take the hint that she was forgiven.
"I recall you mentioning that you're friend- the one who you carried into the lobby last night, was drunk enough to lose consciousness. I figured that he wouldn't be feeling very well this morning- I've gotten drunk plenty of times and know how it goes. How is he?" Hamasaki asked, genuine concern lighting up her expression.
Lin sighed warily, as his mind wandered back to his sick charge.
"You have very good intuition, Ms. Hamasaki. He's in the bathroom right now- I assume that you can guess the rest." him replied, watching as Ms. Hamasaki cringed slightly.
"Yes, believe me, I can. That's why I brought this," she began, holding up a box that looked to be of full of medicine, "it should make him feel better, maybe not completely, but I'm sure that it'll help." She added, holding the box out towards Lin, who took it gratefully.
"This is very generous, Ms.-" he tried to speak, but was cut off before he could finish his sentence.
"Please, you don't have to call me Ms. Hamasaki- it makes me feel old. Just call me Hamasaki, if you wouldn't mind." Lin quirked an eyebrow at the word 'old'. Hamasaki didn't look like she could be more than twenty, if that, in Lin's opinion. However, not being one to argue, he nodded in agreement.
"Fine, thank you for the medication, Hamasaki," Lin said, smiling slightly. In reality, he was very grateful for the pills- he had no way to make Oliver well otherwise, and they needed to think of a course of action- they could not live in the hotel forever. That would require his charge not feeling so nauseated that he did not want to speak.
Hamasaki smiled sweetly before holding out her hand for Lin to shake. The Onmyodo took it, squeezing it lightly. The pretty receptionist held his hand longer than appropriate. Lin quirked an eyebrow, and she smiled, still not releasing his hand.
"I'm curious, Mr. Lin. How old are you, if you don't mind me asking?" She questioned, staring straight into Lin's eyes. The Onmyouji sighed, concerned that she still might be flirting with him, then saw no harm in answering- she didn't sound like she was coming onto him.
"I'm twenty-seven," he replied, his tone unsure. Hamasaki flinched slightly, a reaction utterly unanticipated by Lin.
"How old is the girl that came in with you- the one that I originally assumed was your daughter? " Hamasaki asked, her tone sounding unusually clipped. Lin also mentally noted that she released his hand at that moment.
"She's sixteen," He answered, his gaze unconsciously traveling behind him to the door that Mai and Naru still had not exited. Hamasaki's face fell, and she sighed.
"You like them young, then? You're a bit too old for her if you ask me," She stated, casting Lin an abashed look. The stoic Onmyodo head spun around, and sucked in a breath, utterly shocked.
"What the hell are you talking about? I don't have feelings for Mai!" He yelled, suddenly losing the ability to control the tone of his voice. "At least not like you're thinking- I'm not attracted to Mai." Hamasaki chuckled, and Lin glared, knowing damn well that nothing he had said was laughable.
"Your reaction, Mr. Lin. It was completely and utterly disbelieving. I believe you completely that you have no sexual feelings towards her, rather due to her age, or for other reasons," Hamasaki chuckled again, then smiled.
"In reality, I might be too old for you as well." Lin stared at her, his eyes as wide as saucers. Hamasaki smiled, a genuine unflirty smile.
"Mr. Lin, I'm thirty-three years old," Hamasaki replied, smiling at how Lin's jaw dropped slightly. Lin stared at her, then closed his mouth.
"You're actually my senpai?" He asked, disbelief coloring his words. Hamasaki grinned, and nodded.
"I actually am. I understand that I look younger than I appear- to tell you the truth, I often use that to my advantage. However, it seems that what I was trying to do didn't work with you. I wonder- do you have feelings for the boy that you carried in?" Hamasaki asked, a small smirk forming on her lips. Lin raised an eyebrow, and shook his head.
"No, I don't. He's my charge- I was hired by his parents as a bodyguard," The Onmyodo replied, shaking his head again. Hamasaki chuckled slightly.
"I see- so you don't have feelings for either of the people traveling with you; at least not romantic feelings, that is. To be quite frank with you, Mr. Lin, I have many more questions that I would like to ask you, however, I realize that I brought those pills so that you could make your charge feel better, and have kept you away from him." The receptionist replied, before backing away a few steps. Without saying goodbye, Hamasaki turned on her heel, and walked down the hall.
Koujo stared after her in confusion for a moment, before shaking his head and walking back inside the hotel room, closing the door behind him. He walked the few steps that it took to reach the door to the restroom, and knocked once on the wood. There was no answer from inside, so Lin sighed and pushed open the door. He walked across the white linoleum floors, forcing the feeling of dread that accompanied it down.
He glanced towards the right corner of the room, where he saw Mai, leaning against a wall with her head laid back on it, and Naru, who still looked pale, with has back to the toilet. He didn't turn around when Lin entered, however, his shoulders twitched in reaction. Mai looked up Lin and offered him a wary smile.
"He really just feels sick. I think that its been too long since he's eaten for there to be anything left to throw up." Lin nodded, and approached his charge and colleague.
"Oliver," He said, deep voice low. The teenager opened his eyes, and blinked rapidly to clear them, before focusing on his bodyguard's face. He didn't reply, but Lin could tell that he had his attention, "you're still not feeling any better? You've been in here for quite a while," he added, as Noll closed his eyes again.
"I still feel unwell to a certain degree, yes," Noll admitted warily, though he knew that he was lying through his teeth; he felt much more than slightly sick. However, he had never known how to show weakness to anyone, and Lin was no exception.
The Onmyodo sighed before walking over to the sink. He paused as memories assaulted him, and he grabbed the porcelain with the hand not holding the box of pills. He stood there for several minutes before he managed to calm down the pounding of his rapidly racing heart. Once the beats were normal again, he turned the nob of the sink, and grabbed the cup sitting beside it.
However, as soon as he saw what was really leaking out of the faucet, the beating of his heart amplified to an alarming rate. There was blood, bright red in color and metallic scented, pouring from the faucet and into the cup. Lin allowed the aforementioned to drop into the sink, as quickly as though he had been burned. The blood ran over his hand, and he stepped back, blinking rapidly.
When the Onmyouji opened his eyes, there was no blood on his hand- simply moisture from the water that was now pouring over the cup. Lin shook his head to clear it, not bothering to glance behind him at the teenagers, as he knew all too well that at least one had noticed his little episode.
He rinsed the cup off from where it had landed in the sink, then filled it with what most definitely appeared to be water thankfully, and not blood. Once the cup was filled, Lin cut off the water and and turned around, only to be met with Mai's concerned cinnamon eyes. The brunette said nothing, however, her eyes spoke the volumes of her worry.
Naru, however, was not paying attention it seemed. Lin was secretly grateful for the fact- he knew that at some point, he was going to have explain to Mai what had shocked him while he was filling the cup, but that could wait until later.
Lin approached his charge, who upon hearing his assistant's footsteps, had opened is cerulean blue eyes, and began looking in his direction. It was at that moment that he noticed the box of pills in Lin's hand, and raised a black eyebrow.
"What do you have in that box?" He asked, leaning his head back slightly to get a better view at what the Onmyodo was holding. Noticing this, Lin held the box in front of his chest, allowing his charge to get a better view at what the package entailed. After reading the words printed on the box, Naru raised his other brow as well.
"You think that this will help me feel well again?" He asked, uncertainty coloring his words. Lin shrugged slightly before reaching out towards him, allowing the raven haired teen to grab the cup before tearing off the end of the packaging of the medication, reading the drug facts, and, retrieving two of the white tablets from the box. He held them out to Noll, who took the white tablets in his own hand, before taking a swig of the water, and downing them.
Suddenly, he started to choke, as if he swallowed the pills and they had went down the wrong pipe, however, Lin could see the shock on Naru's face, and knew exactly why he was choking. The water had tasted metallic, like blood.
Jumping into action, Lin knelt down beside Noll and hit him on the back, pinning his shoulder behind him so that he would cease thrashing. Mai stared at her Boss wide eyed. Lin didn't trust the water in the tap enough to try and quite Oliver's cough with more, so it took several minutes before he was able to breath again. When the dark haired teen's coughing fit had ended, he stared at his bodyguard with an unreadable expression.
"Lin, what the hell was that?" Lin shook his head, though he could see it in Oliver's blue eyes that he was all to aware of what substance the water he had just drank tasted of. Naru wiped a hand across his mouth and sighed deeply before closing his eyes. He sat like that for several seconds before sighing and getting to his feet. He swayed slightly before turning on his heel and leaving the bathroom.
Mai met Lin's gaze warily as the normally stoic Onmyouji rose to his full height and offered a hand to help her up. She took it, regaining her own footing before lowering her head.
"What's going on, Lin?" She asked, still not looking at her coworker. The dark haired Onmyodo could hear the tears she was fighting back prominently in her voice, much like had been able to hear the unshed tears in Lifen's voice when she had appeared to him the night before. Lin forced the thought down before sighing and rubbing his temple where a slight headache had began to pulse.
"I have no clue what is happening here. Naru thought that getting away from the office would protect us from what you saw," He said, swallowing as memories of the dream where he had saw himself coated in blood and holding Lifen's necklace flashed through his mind. "But apparently, we were followed here." He added, his dark eyes scanning the white panneled bathroom. He found nothing out of the ordinary, however, he still felt...uneasy. He recognized it as being the same sensation that he had felt upon leaving Shibuya Psychic Research the day before, but he did not know exactly what was bringing on the feeling.
In reality, it didn't matter to Lin why he felt ill at ease- he had learned to trust his instincts, and if they were tellling him that something was off, he knew that he'd do damn well to trust them. So he didn't doubt that something was lurking somewhere, watching him. His dream had taught him tha he wasn't safe- not even from himself.
Lin shook his head again to clear it, then met Mai's gaze. The young brunnette was staring at him with an unusual look in her eyes. The Onmyodo quirked an inquiring eyebrow, and the girl looked down towards the bathrrom floor.
"Lin, you said, 'it seems we were followed', does that mean that you..." Mai began, still not meeting her coworker's eyes. However, the dark haired Onmyodo was all too aware of the question that hung in the air between them. Had he saw his look alike? And the brutal truth of the matter was that he had indeed laid eyes on someone who seeme to be just like him in appearance, but so different from him in personality.
Lin did not want to have to be honest with Mai about seeing his unsettling counterpart, however, he knew that scaring her was far better than leading her into a false sense of security. He looked towards the sink again, a feeling of dread ecompassing his mind, but nonetheless, he did the enevitable.
"I saw...myself in a dream or a vision. I was covered in blood and," The Onmyouji began, then paused as he remembered the familar necklace with the 'L' charm dangling from the chain, the necklace that had such sentimental value to Lifen that she would never had been willingly separated from it. Lin swallowed, and decided to keep that detail to himself, "I believe that what you saw at the office was the same as what I saw here, hence why I said that we were followed," he admitted.
Mai looked up and met Lin's gaze then; he brown eyes were wide, as if she were afraid, however, the twenty-seven year old also noticed a fierce determination in her expression.
"Whatever this thing is, I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out- we always have, have't we?" Mai asked, and Lin couldn't help but give her a small smile- the young girl's confidence in their abilities was mildly refreshing to the stressed out Onmyouji.
"Indeed we have," He said with a light chuckle before turning on his heel and exiting the bathroom. When he came back into the main area of the hotel room, he saw Oliver sitting on his bed, legs hanging off the side and head cocked to the side. He seemed to be talking softly to someone. It was at that moment Lin realized that his charge was on the phone.
He strained his ears to hear what the raven haired teen was muttering, however, the pitch of Naru's voice was too soft, and he couldn't make out the words. He resigned himself to wait until the parnormal researched had finished his call to find out what was going on. A minute or so later, he heard the door to the bathroom open, and Mai stepped out of the bathroom and came up behind him, curiosity filling her expression. She touched Lin's arm lightly, and he turned his attention his young coworker, shrugging as he saw her hand pointing towards Naru. She sighed impatiently, relinquishing her hold on his arm, and walked to her bed, taking a seat and staring towards her boss.
It took several minutes, then finally as Lin felt his patience slipping away and began making his way towards his own bed, Noll's voice stopped him in his tracks.
"I just got off the phone with Takigawa, Father Brown, and Ms. Matsuzaki along with Ms. Hara and Yasuhara," the teen began, lowering his cellphone away from his ear and meeting his guardian's gaze. "They'll be meeting us at the office early tomorrow morning. I believe that recent events, including the disappearance of your sister, call for investigating. It has become quite clear to me that we are dealing with paranormal phenomenon." He stated, and paused, waiting for a response from Lin who blinked, and nodded.
"Agreed. We'll head back to the office later on today. It seems it doesn't matter where we are, whatever it is that we're dealing with seems to have the ability to bother us whereever we are." Naru sat still for a moment, pondering his next words.
"There's something else," He replied simply, his cerualean blue gaze meeting Lin's ash gray one. The Onmyouji quirked an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, prompting his charge to continue. Naru moved his gaze towards Mai before finishing. "I called Madoka as well. I believe that we could use her...experience in the field of paranormal research."
Lin wanted to disagree- wanted to say that they didn't need the pinkette's help, however, he realized that what they were dealing with was dangerous. It seemed to be able to manipulate a person's senses, causing them to see, smell, and taste what it wanted them to. Not to mention that if whatever had manipulated his and Naru's sense was one in the same with the look alike of himself, they were dealing with something that could copy someone's identity.
He would rather Madoka stay safe in England, as she seemed to not realize how dangerous actually being on a case with the the phenomenon she researched could be, but he knew that they would need her help to find what the source of their problems was.
One thing that the Onmyouji knew for certain was that with all of the irregulars of Shibuya Psychic Research's team together under one roof, the next day's events would give him a migraine for sure.
A/N I hope you liked the ending- you should see all of the remaining members of Shibuya Psychic Research soon, as well as everyone's favorited pink haired lady, Madoka. Read and Review. Also, for those of you who didn't like Ms. Hamasaki, don't write her off yet- her part of this story may not be finished. On a different note, I apologize to those who are fans of everyone's favorite narcissist, for making him ill in this chapter.