A/N: Hey guys, I'm glad so many of you like this story and are reading it; thank you to everyone who's reviewed and added it to favourites or alerts. I'm afraid this will be the last update for a few weeks, as I am a final year university student, and my lecturers thought it would be fun to put my dissertation and all my coursework deadlines within three days of each other, so I need to focus on work. There will be updates once my dissertation is sorted; expect a new chapter in early May. It will be on a Monday again, and I promise it will be a good one. For now, enjoy this one and I hope to see you all again on the other side. Thank you.

Liris
xxx

Veritas #3: Children like Mai

Chapter 1: Boys Are Smelly

The journey to the house took about fifteen minutes, most of which Mai spent leaning against Naru's shoulder as she read the notes he'd made for everyone. He wasn't sure if she was doing it on purpose or not; as they'd aged and grown, the previously roomy front seat had forced them closer together. Well, alright, Mai hadn't grown all that much, but Naru had filled out some and his shoulders were broader than they had been four years ago. Often, Mai would brush against him as the van turned corners. She'd never leaned on him quite as fully as she was now, though whether she was trying to bait him or was just being lazy, he wasn't sure.

He reread the case notes over her shoulder. The client was a young woman called Izami Anna, an Australian by birth who had moved to Japan with her husband to raise their three children. The two oldest were boys; Ken, aged nine, and Rin, who was a year younger. The youngest child was a girl, Naomi, who was barely six years old. Naru was going to leave dealing with the children to Mai; she was far better at it than any of the others on his team.

The family had moved to Japan three months ago, and almost immediately the possessions had started. Naru was suspicious about this; there was normally a build-up to a spirit possessing people, and the client hadn't made any note of that at all. There was something off about this case, and they hadn't even started it yet.

Mai leaned off him when Lin pulled onto the driveway of the client's house, tucking the notes away and shuffling as she waited for Naru to move so she could get out. He ignored her fidgeting and stepped from the van, walking to the front door as Monk pulled on the drive. The door opened as he got close, Anna standing there smiling nervously at him.

"Shibuya-san," she greeted, bowing politely. He nodded in response.

"Izami-san."

Mai came up behind him and bowed, followed by Lin, Monk and Matsuzaki. John appeared behind them, and the client's gaze softened as she saw him.

"Father Brown! You came back!"

She slipped into English to welcome John, who smiled and walked forward. He shook her hand, greeting her in English also.

"Anna. How are you?"

"Not bad. There's only been one incident since you were here last, and it was only in Naomi for a few minutes."

"Is she alright?"

In answer, a little girl ran up behind Anna and wrapped her arms around her mother's knees.

"Mommy, Rin is being mean again."

Anna smiled apologetically and disengaged her daughter's hands from her legs, stepping back so the girl could see who was in the doorway.

"Naomi, these are the nice people who are going to make the ghost go away."

Naomi was a pretty little girl. She had a flattering mix of her mother's Australian and her father's Japanese heritage, with pale skin and dark hair and eyes. Her black curls were in pigtails, which were currently lopsided. Mai made a cooing noise.

"Aw, she's so cute!"

Naru had expected this response, but rolled his eyes anyway. The little girl looked up at them all with big eyes and huddled close to her mother. Anna smiled down at her.

"You remember Father Brown?"

Naomi nodded, and John stepped forward, kneeling down to her level.

"These people are with me," he told the little girl. Naomi cast them all another wary look. "They're going to help you."

The girl wasn't convinced. Naru shook his head. He disliked working cases where children were involved; they were often the cause of the phenomena, and when they weren't, they made easy targets. Either way, cases were always more complicated with them underfoot. He looked to Mai for help. If anybody could calm the girl down and let them get on with their job, it was her.

Mai caught his look and smiled broadly, leaning down beside John and speaking carefully. The entire conversation since arriving had been in English, and while he knew that she was skilled at the language, he wasn't sure how she would fare in this situation. To his mild surprise, and not a little pride, her speaking was flawless.

"Hi there! You're Naomi, right? I'm Mai."

Naomi waved shyly. Mai made the isn't-she-cute cooing sound again and knelt, leaning close to the girl and making motions for her to mimic the action. Naomi, curious rather than scared now, did so. Mai spoke to her in a stage whisper.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

The girl nodded. Mai cupped her hand around the child's ear and muttered something that Naru didn't catch. Whatever she said made the girl beam and giggle, nodding. Mai said something else, and Naomi grabbed her hand and turned to face the others.

"Mai's coming to play with me. See you later."

It was said so casually that everyone just stared. Mai got to her feet and let the girl tug her into the house, winking at Naru as she left. That went better than he'd expected. Clearing his throat, he returned the conversation to Japanese, as he wasn't sure how well the monk and miko spoke English and he didn't want to explain everything twice.

"Do you have a room set up for our equipment?"

Anna nodded and led them inside the house.

"You can use Naomi's room to set up in. She's moved in with me for the time being anyway; the boys think it's great fun, but she's more sensitive than they are. The ghost scares her."

"It hasn't hurt her, has it?" John asked. She shook her head, leading them upstairs and showing them to a small room with pink walls and furniture. There were dolls and horse toys on a desk beneath the window, and a frilly pink sheet on the western-style bed. Definitely the room of a young girl.

"No, but she doesn't like not remembering." Anna said, stopping just inside the door. "She's been sleeping with me since this all started. My husband has moved in with the boys to make sure that if anything happens at night, they don't hurt themselves."

"Has there been any activity in this room?" Naru asked. Anna looked at his quizzically. He elaborated. "Has the spirit ever been seen in here?"

"Oh, no, we've not seen it. Naomi said she saw a little boy once, before it started possessing them, but she's not seen him since. I don't know if it was the spirit, or if she just saw a boy. She didn't say anything else about him."

"And where do the possessions happen the most?"

Anna bit her lip, eyes turning to the window.

"When they're in the garden. I'd stop them going out, but you try keeping three children locked in the house, especially when two of them are boys approaching their teens."

Satisfied that this room was safe to use as a base, he nodded to Lin.

"Fetch the equipment from the van. Takigawa-san, Matsuzaki-san, help him."

The three left the room, and Naru walked over to the window and looked out. The room was on the side of the house, but some of the rear could be seen at the far side of the glass. The garden was quite large for this part of town, with fencing down either side and the end bordered by trees. As he watched, two boys ran from the house into the garden.

"My sons," Anna said beside him. "I kept them home from school today in case you needed to talk to them."

He nodded. They, too, had a mix of their parent's looks; the older boy was blonde like his mother with what Naru assumed to be his father's facial features. Rin was more like his sister – dark hair, pale skin, and a grin that was almost as wide as his face.

"They like playing out there, even with what's happening. I've tried to tell them it's not a game, but they won't listen. They keep going out there."

"And Naomi?" Naru asked. Anna shrugged.

"She follows her big brothers."

John laid a hand on Anna's shoulder and started comforting her in English. Naru turned away from the window as Lin returned with a monitor.

"Clear the desk and set up the monitors on there. I want two cameras in the garden; make sure you can see all of it. Microphones too. Matsuzaki-san," he said, grabbing her attention as she walked in with cables in her arms. "Make protective charms for the children. I don't want to have to exorcise them if it can be helped."

"Can I get into base first?" she snapped, dropping the cable at her feet and almost causing Monk to trip over. Naru ignored her outburst and left the room, heading downstairs. Lin and Monk could handle setting up the equipment, the miko had just been given her job, and John was comforting the client. He needed to find Mai. He didn't like that they'd been here for fifteen minutes, and she'd been out of everyone's sight the whole time.

Hearing speech from a room to his left, Naru pushed open the door and looked inside. It was a living room, fairly spacious, with a comfortable-looking sofa against one wall and two matching armchairs on either side. A television sat opposite them, currently turned off, and a large rug covered the remaining floor space. Mai and Naomi sat in the centre of the rug, each holding a rag doll and looking up at him. He'd interrupted play time.

Trying not to roll his eyes at the sight of Mai playing with dolls, he stepped inside. Naomi glared and snapped at him in English.

"No boys allowed in here! They're smelly and bad! Only girls!"

He raised an eyebrow at Mai, who stifled a laugh and climbed to her feet.

"I'll be right back, Naomi," she said to the little girl, who crossed her arms in protest. She led him from the room and shut the door almost closed, keeping it open a crack and using the gap to check on the little girl inside. Naru shook his head at her.

"Boys are smelly?" he asked. She laughed again, shrugging.

"I had to say something to her, and that seemed like a good way to make friends. It worked, so don't complain."

Naru decided to drop it. It wasn't that important; he was more concerned with the way Mai kept checking on Naomi.

"Is something wrong?"

She bit her lip, shaking her head.

"No, not exactly. I… I don't know. I don't want to leave her alone."

"Your intuition?"

Mai pulled a confused face at him, and he realised they were still speaking in English. He had slipped into his native language easily, following her lead without realising. He repeated himself in Japanese and Mai nodded, returning to her mother tongue.

"Oh, yes. I think so. I just feel like I need to be with her."

"The ghost is targeting her?"

Mai looked back at the child, then shook her head slowly.

"No… yes… I'm not sure. I can't feel the ghost here."

"Most of the possessions have happened in the garden."

Mai nodded and looked up at him. "Do you want me to have a walk around and see if I can feel anything?"

Naomi called for Mai to hurry up. She smiled and said she was coming. Naru wasn't left with much choice; he didn't want Naomi in the garden while Mai still felt protective over her, and the girl had attached to his assistant very rapidly. He shook his head. Mai's ability to wrap people around her little finger always amazed him.

"Later. For now, stay here and see if you can find anything out from Naomi. She might have seen the spirit. Talk to the boys as well if you get a chance."

"Will do," she promised, opening the door and returning to the impatient child sat on the rug. Naru watched them for a few seconds, then slid the door shut and went back upstairs.

Xxx

After sending Matsuzaki down to sit with Mai and Naomi (she had snapped at him again, but done as he'd asked) Naru supervised the setting up of the equipment. John and Monk were in the garden, each armed with a camera, and were adjusting them to his satisfaction. Naru nodded and spoke into the walkie-talkie.

"Alright Bou-san, that looks good. A little higher, John. There. Alright, set up the microphone and then come back."

He got a rather sarcastic affirmative from Monk and laid the walkie-talkie on the desk by Lin. It was almost half past eleven, and he was expecting Yasuhara to show up at any moment. That also meant that Mai would be needing to leave soon if she was to make her classes on time. He left Lin to supervise the microphone set-up and headed back downstairs to the living room. The door was open this time, and Matsuzaki was sitting beside the client on the sofa, chatting lightly as she made charms. Mai and Naomi were nowhere to be seen. Naru cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow at the miko.

"Where is Mai?"

It was Anna who answered him.

"In the kitchen with the children. I think they're making cookies."

Naru shook his head, both at Mai's idea of what constituted 'getting information' and the miko's idea of watching Mai. He shot Matsuzaki a reprimanding glare and walked through the room to the door Anna pointed out, entering into what could only be described as controlled chaos. Mai was stood by the table while all three Izami children sat around it, armed with cookie dough and cutters. The boys were competing to see who could get the most shapes from their square, leading to what looked like many headless dinosaurs, while Naomi was being very careful that her flowers and butterflies were all perfect. Mai was smiling at the children, watching that they didn't hurt themselves with the cutters.

That was the controlled part. 'Chaos' described the rest of the room. There was flour sprinkled liberally across most surfaces, including the floor, and a pile of used bowls and utensils was stacked haphazardly beside the sink. The children were all smudged with dough, and Mai herself bore a dusting of sugar across her cheek and ear. All four looked as though they were thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Naru cleared his throat, making them all pause and look up at him. Mai smiled, which was enough for the boys to lose interest and return to their dough. Naomi, who had apparently warmed up to him, grinned and waved. He nodded awkwardly, looking back to Mai. She walked around the table to him.

"Hey Naru. Everything ok?"

"This is a novel way of doing your job," he replied, resisting the urge to wipe the sugar from her cheek. She blushed lightly.

"The boys were getting in the way of setting up the cameras, and this is a good way to keep children entertained."

"I'm sure," he said dryly, choosing not to make a comment about Mai's age. It was too easy. "Are you going to class today?"

She frowned at him, then checked her watch and gasped. "I didn't realise it was that late!"

"Obviously," he noted, gaining a glare from his assistant. Mai opened her mouth to tell him off, paused, then smirked in a way that reminded him unsettlingly of himself.

"I have to go," she said over her shoulder to the children, who groaned as one. That unnerving smile didn't shift at all. "It's alright; Naru will help you finish the cookies."

He really should have seen that one coming. He turned his best glare on Mai to no effect; she stuck her tongue out and him and pushed him in the direction of the table.

"Have fun," she taunted gleefully as she retreated. She shut him in the kitchen with the children before he could make an escape. He scowled after her, plotting ways to get her back for this.

A tugging on his sleeve made him turn around. Naomi was stood beside him, smiling.

"Do you want to cut out?" she asked, offering him a butterfly-shaped cutter. He sighed. If he called Matsuzaki in here to take over, she would smirk, ridicule him and leave him to it. The others were all upstairs and so out of range, and even if he did call them down they would react the same way as the miko. Well, maybe not John, but Monk certainly would, and Naru wouldn't ask Lin anyway; the Chinese man was not good with children.

Slowly, he took the cutter from Naomi. She grinned widely and pulled him to the table, telling him that he had to be careful and make sure that all the shape had dough in it.

Oh, Mai was going to pay for this.

Yasu's case notes

You have no idea how much I love you, Mai, for doing this to the Boss-man. I still manage to tease him about it.

Still? Yasu, this happened ages ago. Don't you have fresher material?

I do, but this is too easy to resist. All I have to do is buy flower-shaped cookies and eat them slowly in front of Naru. His face twists up like he's sucking a lemon; it's brilliant.

...Right. You're too easily amused, Yasu.

Says you. Cookie?

Next time: Mai collapses in class, Naru rushes to her side, and the ensuing actions lead to a phone call to Luella. Naru is not happy.