A/N: Hi guys! Welcome back! Thank you to all my readers for the favorites, subscriptions, and comments! It's nice to know you guys are reading and enjoying the brain rot I've had brewing for the past several years, haha!

Anyhow, we have a shorter chapter today as this chapter sets the last and most pivotal piece of the plot in place before the ball rolls! So hope you enjoy it!

Interlude: Mai's Training

Officially working for Naru was exactly as expected. Mai filed, organized, cleaned, and prepared tea. During her downtime, he had her prepare materials for her personal use during cases.

Quite frankly, she felt like she was being given homework.

She had to read 2-7 chapters in "this" and "that" book with detailed notes in Naru's preferred bulleted format. After all, he couldn't have an assistant who couldn't take basic notes—ignoring the fact that his definition of "basic" was anything but.

Unlike schoolwork, the material was at least somewhat interesting. Many of the topics provided official terms for experiences she was already familiar with—"Post-cognition" was one such term. Along with the readings, she was to document all warnings or "urges" her instincts alerted her to. Her spiritual dreams were also to be logged in detail. Oh, and if she spotted a spirit or suspected someone was one, she was to document that too.

She went from being a dilettante to now dissecting her abilities and studying basic parapsychology. This sudden overexposure was uncomfortable yet relieving at the same time. She could now speak about all this and no one would bat an eye.

If she said anything remotely interesting about the paranormal to her peers, they would swarm up to ask questions—if she said the same thing to Naru, he wouldn't even look up from his computer. If he felt generous with his time, he'd even say something like, "Hm. Good to see you're finally making connections."

Aside from being a smartass all the time, she kind of appreciated the nonchalance.

Then, there was the topic of her incorporeal companions. While Naru made her study and do fieldwork during the day, Gene thought it would be funny to make her squirm outside of work too. Mai didn't always dream every night, so she only got to enter her dreamscape once or twice a week when Gene reeled her in.

Since she had very little control over her projections, Gene took it upon himself to train her.

He didn't realize the amount of explaining he would have to do before and during training, however—maybe Naru was on to something when he said Mai was finally making connections.

The first few training sessions involved terminology review, practicing the art of meditation, and grounding.

Meditation turned out to be more challenging than she originally thought. Mai dozed off easily during classes and work, yet her mind would wander off to the depths of irrelevancy the instant she meditated.

"You need to let everything go. Clear your mind and only focus on your breathing." Gene sat cross-legged across from Mai, who mirrored the same positioning. Usa-sama sat in Gene's lap napping during their session.

Mai inhaled deeply through her nose, feeling cool air enter her body.

"Feel as the airflow moves from your chest to your stomach and then back out."

Only the sounds of their breathing permeated the space.

Well, that is until—

"Why does Lin cover his one eye?"

Gene facepalmed.

Following that, Mai was given a schedule during her awake hours encompassing deep breathing and meditation. After a few weeks of meditating before bed every night, she finally got the hang of it. Once satisfied, Gene moved on to teaching her about anchoring herself to a destination to project to. However, she had to heed his warning to never project anywhere but her astral plane or areas she recognized.

Her first assignment was to attempt projecting herself using meditation rather than sleep. Mai wasn't sure what to use for her anchor, so she chose Gene. He had more of an identifiable presence that she could reimagine easily compared to Usa-sama's more powerful yet cryptic energy.

And… that turned out to be a mistake.

Rather than projecting straight to her astral plane, she missed her target and managed to pull herself full-throttle into a vision. Particularly to the vision of Gene's death—the part she had been blocked from seeing the last time. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest when she realized what was happening.

The woman who killed Gene was even more heinous than she originally thought—after she ran him over the second time, she wrapped him up in a tarp and threw him into the lake. She used cinderblocks to ensure that he stayed under. As the events unfolded, Mai had tried to interfere in any way she could from yelling to trying to grab the woman. Her attempts were all fruitless.

She had never felt so powerless in her life. To be a bystander of the crime and not be able to do anything sent fervid rage through Mai's veins. The enmity she held for this woman was unrelenting as she watched Gene's body sink under—her nails digging into her palms and unstoppable tears dripping off her chin. To die all alone like this and still manage to smile and laugh with her in his afterlife... it was unbearable for her.

She sank to the ground, curling into herself as she wept. I'm so sorry, Gene. I'm so sorry I can't do anything for you.

The most she could do for him now was to let him take refuge on her plane. But was she strong enough to help him in the way he needed? Mai didn't realize how easy it would be to throw herself into a vision like this. How could she expect to be a true psychic if she couldn't even handle this much? She had hidden behind sleeping pills before, but now she was face to face with her fear.

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling the weight of the situation. If only she was strong enough like Masako, then maybe she would know how to handle this situation—how to help Gene.

A warm hand rested on her back as someone crouched beside her. Glowing white fur entered her vision as she opened her eyes. Two beady eyes peered up at her with a twitching nose. She laid her hand on her rabbit companion for comfort.

"I'm so sorry, Mai," said Gene from beside her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I didn't realize you would be pulled in like that. I should have taught you how to guard yourself better. My oversight forced you to witness… that."

Mai wrapped her arms around him, crying into his chest. She shook her head rapidly, "Why are you sorry? I'm sorry you had to be alone. I'm sorry this is how everything ended for you. I… I'm so sad for you and Naru. I'm sorry I'm so useless and can't help you."

Gene held her firmly, his eyes closing. His voice took on a softer disposition, "It's okay, Mai. I've accepted what happened. It wouldn't do me any good to hold negative feelings now that I'm a spirit. Allowing me into your plane under yours and Usa-sama's protection is more than I can ask for."

"Even if you can accept it, I can't!" she declared, looking up at him with a myriad of emotions in her eyes. "I-I can't accept it. That was unfair what was done to you." There was truly nothing she could do for Gene and she knew it. She couldn't avenge him, hell, she didn't even know where this location was.

Wait.

She pushed herself away from their embrace to look him directly in the face. "Were… were you ever found?"

He briefly averted his eyes before shaking his head.

"Where are you, Gene? Maybe I can tell Naru and we can alert a search group to find you."

His pained smile broke her heart. "I can't remember."

Why did the air feel so heavy at that moment? Why did being alive feel like such a weight on her shoulders?

"You can't mean…" she said, her eyes widening. That may be why he was still lingering then. Naru needed to know about this—she didn't feel right keeping this information to herself. But then, what would she say to him?

"Naru's searching for me as we speak. Now's not the time to tell him I'm still around, though. He'll only worry." And lose control, was the unspoken piece Gene finished in his head. The air was quiet between the two until Gene popped on a small smile, "After all, the kid sucks at emotions."

Mai couldn't help the chuckle that left her mouth, "That's an understatement." She looked to the ground to find Usa-sama still nestled next to her. Picking up the furry deity, she held him close brushing her cheek against his fur. "You know how you said you didn't need my help? Or at least not yet?"

Gene nodded.

With determination, she locked eyes with him. "I want to help find you. Let me do at least that much."

He seemed reluctant but eventually gave her a nod. "Thank you, Mai."

Smiling, she stood up from her kneeling position. "Now, how do we leave this vision? I don't think any of us can stomach being here any longer." After all that, it would take an equally disturbing vision for her to forget the view of this lake.

"Well, that'll be up to you. How about an impromptu lesson?" he teased, back to his joking ways. "Remember 'the anchor?' You could try making one for yourself instead of using something else. Your plane is yours alone. You can shape it any way you want." He cracked a grin, "I wouldn't mind a couch to sit on. Oh, and a TV with the newest PlayStation."

"Would you even be able to watch or play anything?"

He tilted his head up in thought, "We won't know till we try!"

To meditate, she sat on the grass facing away from the lake. Usa-sama sat in her lap, likely using whatever palliative powers he had to help her remain calm while she concentrated.

Initially, she had a hard time manifesting what she wanted—she didn't even know what it was she wanted. In the end, she opted to imagine the SPR office since she associated it most with the paranormal. The main area, her desk, and the kitchen were the easiest—minus imagining Gene his TV and PlayStation. Naru's and Lin's offices were a bit harder as she didn't go in often aside from bringing tea and reports. Not to mention that Naru had a bunch of books in English while Lin had books in Chinese.

She could almost feel the material of the couch beneath her legs. She thought about the one analog clock that would bother her with its ticking, or the sound of the fridge when it made ice.

The familiar sound of the SPR door and chime jingling broke her out of her meditation. Her eyes shot open to the view of the main area wall. She did it! Her astral plane looked like a replica of the office.

"Good job, Mai!" Gene said as he closed the office door behind him. He looked around, crossing his arms just like Naru as he inspected every nook and cranny. "You can tell Naru and Lin decorated this place. Corporate and professional."

Mai still couldn't believe she did it even as she slid her hands across the material of the couches.

"You could have switched out the couches for something comfier, but this will do!" Gene had long changed out of his brother's clothes and was now donning a regular t-shirt and a pair of casual khakis. "And you added a TV and a PlayStation too!"

"I also added a small pen for Usa-sama in Naru's office," she giggled. Naru would not be pleased. "And this is only on my plane, right? I didn't actually project us to the office, did I?"

"Well, you technically did, but you only altered this realm's office. If you actually projected there, you would be able to see Naru and Lin around," Gene answered. "If you look outside, it's an empty version of Shibuya."

When she peered out the windows, the streets were fully empty just as Gene said. "Wow…"

Gene plopped himself onto the couch across from the TV. Usa-sama hopped up next to him. "I hope you're feeling better now," he said.

She couldn't help but smile seeing him get comfortable, "Yeah. Hope you are too."

"You bet!" he grinned. "Congrats on passing your assignment, by the way! I'm sure Naru will be satisfied if you tell him what you accomplished. Minus me, of course."

Mai shot up as she remembered something, "That reminds me. How do you spell your name? I'm including you in my notes, but only your first initial. I assumed it was spelled J-I-N, but for some reason, that didn't feel right."

He didn't answer right away—he even seemed to argue with himself. Mai wondered if he didn't want to share. He certainly didn't have to tell her, but now she was curious why the spelling of his name mattered so much.

"I spell it with a 'G,'" he finally answered her.

She nodded, not wanting to push it. If he spelled his name with a 'G,' his name would then be pronounced differently. Maybe his parents were trying to be creative, or maybe he was a foreigner. But then, wouldn't that make Naru a foreigner too?

As if detecting her trail of thought, he quickly changed the subject.

As promised, Mai started her research on Gene's location. While she didn't have the funds to travel to every lake in Japan, she could at least rely on modern technology. A list of all the lakes in Japan was as simple as a Google search. Luckily for her, Japan was small compared to other countries, so the list was made up of only about 100 lakes.

It would take her a bit to get through the list between work, school, and chores. She started a separate notebook for her research, which she was careful to hide away. Looking at it, Naru probably wouldn't even be interested in the slightest, but she wanted to be careful. She aimed to print out pictures and articles at school for each entry—more so to satisfy her childish desire to feel like a movie detective and less for the scientific method.

She also ensured that the only identification for Gene in all her notes was a simple "G."

Turns out that Naru was too good to read through her chicken-scratch notes anyway, so she probably agonized over all this for nothing.

Rather than reading over her notes, her boss got some sort of sick satisfaction from quizzing her instead. Now, whenever she came with tea or a document, she had to be prepared for an open-ended question.

There was never a, "Thank you, Mai."

Just, "What are five principal measures that you can use to identify the presence of spirits?"

"Don't tell me you're planning on giving me an exam?" Mai joked one day, placing tea and a plate of bunny apple slices on his desk—the boy never ate, so if she didn't leave traces of sustenance, he would no doubt evaporate.

"If I did, would you pass?" he asked, glancing at the plate and then back up to her.

"Depends if you're going to grade fairly or not."

"Either you're correct or not. Grading isn't subjective, Mai."

"You'd nitpick my answers and you know it!" she argued, crossing her arms.

He regarded her for a minute. "Then, perhaps I will give you an exam," he said, sipping his tea. The corners of his mouth just barely turned up. "Now get back to work."

And get back to work she did.

The workday was simple. Her day-to-day duties entailed secretarial matters, such as organizing and answering phone calls. Oh, and making sure that Naru and Lin survived. That wasn't part of the job description, but they rarely left their offices to use the bathroom let alone eat.

Naru used to give her a quizzical brow whenever she brought in snacks. And yet, the plates would be found empty every time she collected them later. That was award enough for her to keep doing it.

As she exited Naru's office, she was pleasantly surprised to find a customer waiting at the entrance. "Ah, welcome to Shibuya Psychic Research! How may we help you?"

"Hello, my name is Morishita Noriko. I have some unexplainable occurrences happening in my home. I was hoping you would be able to help?" asked a young woman with light brown hair.

"You came to the right place! Please take a seat this way."

On the way to her first official case, Mai fell asleep in the van and unintentionally projected herself onto the spiritual plane. As usual, she was greeted by the sight of Gene sitting crossed-legged with Usa-sama on the couch playing games—how he was playing games, she would never know. He listened to her rattle on and on about the preparations Naru made her take and the details of the case.

"You remember our lesson on defenses, right?" Gene asked, not even taking his eyes off the TV.

"Yeah… but, I feel like I'm not doing anything when I try it," she mumbled. The technique he taught her was still emerging. In her opinion, it was still nowhere near enough to "keep the creepies away," as Gene had put it.

"It'll work trust me. Besides, you're under the divine protection of the holy Usa-sama!" He made a point by lifting said rabbit in the air like a stuffed animal.

"I know, but I was getting one of those feelings in the van."

"Great then! Count this as your first fieldwork. Why don't you practice getting back into your body before Naru throws a wobbly?"

Wobbly? She raised a brow. She shrugged it off and headed into Naru's office away from the commotion that was Gene's entertainment.

"Good luck!" He called out before cursing as an influx of enemies ambushed him.

This was Gene's current assignment for her—finding her way back to her body. She had only practiced it two times before, but it was already less arduous than projecting out of her body.

Plopping into Naru's office chair, she closed her eyes and concentrated. She willed the imaginary vines she used to pull her taught to the earth tighter. She figuratively placed herself back into the exact spot she sat in the van between Lin and Naru. She imagined the uncomfortable leather seats making her butt numb as her arms rested in her lap. She imagined the road noise of other cars passing. The last thing she heard was the flipping of pages as Naru reviewed the case for the umpteenth time.

Slowly blinking her eyes open, she scanned their location.

"I see you're back," Naru stated from beside her. Wasting no time, he handed her a folder. "Here's a copy of the file. I want you to look over it."

Rolling her eyes at his inability to relax for two seconds, she took the file. It was great fun to have a twin coaching her in her dreams, and the other twin bossing her around during the day.

The remainder of the car ride was uneventful aside from the persistent feeling she had. When they finally pulled into the driveway of their client's home, she inhaled deeply. Naru sent her a side glance.

She was strangely happy to see Bou-san and Ayako again. After dealing with the two workaholics for the past few months, she was relieved to see other humans. She chatted them up briefly to stall having to go inside.

She usually dealt with spirits who stayed outside—never did she trespass into abandoned buildings. Even she knew that was asking for trouble.

So, when the time came to enter, she felt like she had just walked into a private affair unwelcome. Something about the house was beyond suffocating. She rubbed at the goosebumps on her arms as Noriko welcomed them inside and introduced them to her family.

They seemed like a normal women-run household. Mai didn't note anything odd about the family members, other than Ayami, Noriko's niece, being the cutest little thing. Kana, Noriko's sister-in-law, was more on the serious side. She got right to business, asking if they thought there were spirits before they even got to investigate! Shaking furniture, doors opening and closing on their own, and bangs on a wall definitely weren't normal, but they had only stepped in the house for five minutes.

After setting up their equipment, Ayako was quick to share her thoughts. "This is clearly the work of an earth spirit."

"You might be right," mumbled Mai as she scribbled into her journal.

"Aren't you the little ghost hunter now?" Bou-san teased as he peered over her shoulder at her notes. "What's with these notes? They're written in different colors."

"If I have to take notes in Naru's style, I have to make it interesting somehow," she said, showing off her pencil case of pens.

While Bou-san sifted through her colors, Naru inwardly sighed. "Those notes should be for your reference," he said before turning back to the monitors. "While there is the possibility a spirit caused this, we also can't ignore that the activity is also reminiscent of poltergeist activity."

"I almost forgot to tell you," Mai interrupted, "I can feel something very off here. I can't tell exactly what but it feels like we're being watched by a bunch of people."

"Do you think we're working with multiple spirits then?" Ayako assumed a thinking pose.

"Maybe," she replied with uncertainty. It was nice that she could be more helpful now, but she wasn't nearly as trained as Masako was.

"Did you sense anything else?"

"Not yet. Do you want me to try projecting?"

"No. Save your energy." She nodded her head, returning to her scribbling.

"So Jou-san, what can you do? Naru said you were psychic a while back. When you say project, do you mean like astral projecting?"

She stopped her writing, surprised by Bou-san's sudden question. It made sense for him to ask, but now Ayako was looking at her expectantly too. Darn it, Bou-san.

"Um, yeah. I'm not very good at it, though. I can only do it when I sleep, but I've been practicing."

Bou-san looked to be processing her information. "You wouldn't think you were capable of that kind of thing just by looking at you. Well, don't overwork yourself. That'll leave you susceptible to all kinds of nasties."

"No worries! Hey, why don't I go make some tea?" She closed her notebook. When Naru didn't react, she took that as affirmative and left for the kitchen.

Noriko, who was bringing Ayami a snack, bumped into her in the hall and promptly invited her to join. Naru's tea could wait.

On the way to Ayami's room, Mai learned that Kana was Ayami's stepmother. This situation was new for all of them and undoubtedly an adjustment, and then to add a haunting.

"Ayami, I brought snacks. Mai-chan is here too!" Noriko announced as they entered the little girl's room.

Ayami, who was reading a picture book, picked up her doll and ran over to greet the newcomers. "Hello!"

"Hi there! Who's this?" Mai gestured to the doll. Was it her or did the doll seem like it was looking at her?

"Minnie," Ayami said, extending Minnie's hand out for Mai to shake.

"Hi there, Minn-" Mai snatched her hand away the instant she touched the doll. Its hand was burning hot.

Noriko and Ayami looked at her in concern.

"Uh, sorry, just had a sudden hiccup," she said, lamely. Mai cautiously decided to try again, and this time, she shook Minnie's hand with no problems.

Great.

Off to a warm welcome.

A/N: The final piece of the plot is here! I loved the idea of Mai working on her own on the sidelines—specifically searching for Gene. It'll allow for much drama to unfold, heh. Just to let you guys know, I LOVE drama and there will be dashes here and there. No misunderstandings though. That's a big no-go for me.

I have to give it to Gene for his perseverance in the original series. He deserves that PS5 :')

BTW, this fic is taking place in the late 2010s, just so we have more developed tech.

Anyways, please let me know what you think! Predictions are always welcome!