Case: Occultation

With Mai's claim of their resident priest having a ghostly stalker, Naru asked to see the evidence they had supposedly caught.

Mai grumbled about having to hand deliver it to his majesty but still brought it over anyway. She plopped herself next to Naru and placed her phone between them as she swiped through her footage.

Naru narrowed his eyes at her for leaning so close—if he could smell her shampoo, there was undoubtedly a personal space violation. Unfortunately, he learned a while ago that she was as oblivious to certain social cues as he was.

When she offered for him to take her phone, he gladly obliged and leaned a comfortable distance away… only for her to follow and move even closer now that she had to point to show her observations.

He mitigated his irritability by distracting himself with debunking her claim of spotting orbs. At least compared to other females, she didn't smell offensive like she was dowsed in perfume.

The two flipped through the photos multiple times before rewatching the video at least five times. "How do you know that wasn't another guest?" Naru questioned about the photo of the figure peeking from the corridor.

"Well, I don't know about any humans that are white like that. Plus, I didn't even see anything while we were there. Did you John?"

The said priest shook his head.

Naru then slid to the photo with the disembodied hand. "This could be a simple trick of the light. It looks like there were garden lights."

"Yeah, but the sun hadn't fully set yet so there shouldn't be a glare?" she said, now questioning what she saw. "It can't just be the light. You can see the thumb and everything!"

"You should know from your readings that there will always be confounding variables that influence your findings, especially without a controlled environment."

Mai sent John a deadpan face conveying silently, "You see what I have to deal with?"

The blonde male sent her a sympathetic smile in return. "Shibuya-san does have a point, Mai-san. But why don't we all visit the courtyard to see?"

Thus, the group of three did a walkthrough of the hotel. Lin stayed behind as usual since he wasn't interested in their shenanigans. Mai was honestly surprised that Naru agreed to come. Normally this kind of "investigation" would be considered too vacuous for his mighty intelligence.

He must have been really bored.

She took candid shots of John throughout their walk to catch more sightings of the spirit following him. Naru ordered her to also take pictures of the corridors for other sightings as they walked.

She raised a brow, wondering if this counted as "on the clock." She just needed to remember that this job paid for the ice cream she could now afford to have with her friends every week—regardless of her boss' many demands and lack of manners.

"This is where we took the video," said Mai as they reached the spot from earlier.

Naru studied the surroundings, even going as far as to note the position of the sunset during their recording. He checked the corridor where the spirit had been spotted—the few rooms in that antiquated wing were uninhabited. In fact, the wing acted as a mini museum to display various artifacts.

He was still skeptical though. There could have been another guest visiting the museum at the time.

As they explored, John's shoulders started progressively bothering him. He initially rolled them here and there but the soreness persisted. It felt like his neck and upper back were overexerting to keep him from falling back. Even Naru noticed the frequency that the young priest was rubbing at his shoulders.

Mai scrunched her brows in concern. "You okay, John?"

"My shoulders are just a tad sore, perhaps from pushing the van earlier." He rolled them again for good measure and massaged his traps. "No worries. I'll be fine."

She wasn't convinced. "I don't know… you look tired. Maybe we should head back?"

John looked conflicted but ultimately agreed. It felt like he had been dragging his body around since he got here—he felt so heavy. It had only gotten worse as the night went on. "You guys keep investigating. I don't want to hold you back."

She shook her head. She wasn't a fan of the idea of him walking alone. "We'll walk you back! Right, Naru?" The boy in question wasn't even near them anymore as he traversed the closed wing on his own. She wasn't a fan of that either but at least he wasn't the one with a ghostly stalker.

"Please don't worry yourself, Mai-san. I appreciate the gesture though." John shook his head.

She debated it but her instincts told her to walk him back.

Even if he could protect himself with his faith, he couldn't sense when the spirits were around. Without allowing any protest, she nearly shoved John back to their room. After she made sure her friend would be resting immediately, she left to scout out Naru.

Mai found him looking through the rooms of the closed wing and wondered what had interested him so much. "Are you looking for something in particular?"

Naru didn't reply at first. He chose to study the displays the hotel had set out for the guests. "This used to be a castle that housed various feudal lords. It dates as far back as the Kamakura period."

"Wow, I didn't know it was that old. I thought maybe it was from Edo?"

"The hotel entrance was enough for me to know it dated back to feudal Japan."

She rolled her eyes, "Pardon me for not knowing ancient architecture."

"Maybe if you paid better attention in class rather than drawing in your notes, you'd learn that," he said before casually leaving for the next display room.

Mai could feel her cheeks warming from being called out. "Hey! Naru-"

She stopped mid-chew out when she found a room of Christian iconography and other artifacts of worship. "What is all this?" Mai half-sprinted up to catch up with Naru, taking care not to accidentally loosen her yukata.

"According to the owners of the hotel, Christian missionaries first arrived in Japan from Spain and Portugal during the Muromachi period. To be expected of foreign religions, they were not welcomed with open arms. One daimyo* agreed to house them on his land in exchange for foreign resources, including guns and gunpowder," Naru said, not even bothering to read the history written about each display.

"Why do I feel like this doesn't end well?"

"As this was the Warring States era, nearby lords found any reason to start a civil war. The daimyo* of this castle was under suspicion for colluding with foreign powers. Thus, his land suffered multiple attempts at invasion to acquire the resources he was suspected of having and to expel the foreigners."

"Of course," she said. "There's always got to be some kind of a war."

He crossed his arms and continued. "The hotel owners say that the castle's hime had fallen in love with one of the missionaries. She had disguised herself as one of them to meet up with him. To be expected, she was caught amidst one of the invasions and killed alongside her lover. It was when the daimyo* ordered to have his family escape that he found out about her death. Stricken with rage, he and his troops killed off the rest of the invading army with the use of the new guns. He would later be promoted as part of the shogunate. When his wife fell ill with syphilis and passed away, he committed hara-kiri*."

Mai gasped, bringing her hands up to her face in horror. "That's awful."

"Knowing this history, paranormal enthusiasts as well as ignorant people come here to perform amateur seances and other means of contacting spirits. The hauntings have reportedly gotten worse over the years. These include the feeling of being followed, hearing cries for help, a weeping man or woman, having hair and clothing pulled, feelings of chest pain, and a negative atmosphere in the south wing bathhouse."

"South wing? I didn't know there was another bathhouse," she said, tilting her head.

"The other one is closed due to several accounts of being grabbed, pushed, or scratched. Under such conditions and the nature of a bathhouse, it was deemed unsafe for public access."

Feeling a shiver trail up her spine, she inched closer to Naru and glanced behind them in paranoia.

As they scanned the next set of displays in the room over, Mai frowned when she spotted a painting of the daimyo* and his family.

The depiction of the family looked like any other ancient paintings she'd seen in her textbooks. The hime would be considered a beauty as she had long black hair with pale skin dressed in a colorful furisode*. Now that she thought about it, if Masako had longer hair and dressed in brighter clothing, she could probably pass for one.

A myriad of emotions weighed down on her the longer she studied the painting. She was unable to single out any of them but also couldn't unlock her eyes either. There was that unmistakable feeling of dread again.

"Do you feel anything?"

Mai jumped at the sound of Naru stepping beside her.

"Um, I can't tell. I kind of got the idea that there are definitely multiple spirits, but they're almost like live people to me. Their energies don't jump at me as 'ghosts.' It's like they're just living their lives."

Naru watched her for a minute before turning his attention to the painting she had been studying. "And regarding the painting?"

She tilted her head and squinted at it. "I guess I got a rush of some of their emotions? Like the hime-san's sorrow, or the lord's anguish. I don't know… I've been kind of 'off' the past few days. I haven't even seen Ge- my spirit guide much lately either," she said, quickly clearing her throat. "Connecting with Tomiko-chan earlier was hard. Even now, I can barely sense anything here."

Naru crossed his arms and studied her from the corner of his eye. A multitude of thoughts ran through his head and he wasn't sure which to focus on. For one, she often stumbled when talking about her spirit guide. He didn't have any reason to be suspicious, other than the fact that she seemed so bothered by it every time. He pocketed the thought for now, intent on investigating at a later point.

The second and more interesting thought to him was to train her in the ways that Lin had trained him. She didn't possess any PK as far as he knew, but adopting a different diet and exercise supported psychic power in general. Call it research.

"Despite your difficulty, you were at least able to pick up on the residual energies—from the painting, for example," he stated.

"Residual energies," she repeated to herself.

"In Native American culture, energy is believed to be imprinted on objects and items we come to possess. Paintings and photographs can also hold the energy of those depicted in them."

"Like those haunted paintings they show online!"

"The amount of online media you consume is concerning," he noted, a barely noticeable smirk making its way to his face when she huffed. "Most instances shared on social media likely aren't even true."

"It's getting better nowadays! There's security footage and everything," she defended. "Just look up 'the anguished man' painting. Some guy in the UK who owns the painting set it in an empty room in his home and recorded all this crazy activity."

Naru raised a brow, In the UK?

While the dark-haired scientist was still skeptical, he agreed to let her show him later.

As the two made their way back to the room, Mai looked through some of the pictures they got earlier. She was surprised to find a white mist in two pictures, specifically by John's shoulders and upper back… where he complained of soreness.

Goosebumps crept up her back.

As she scanned through the rest, one photo chilled her to the bone. Resting over John's shoulders was a transparent half-formed figure seemingly with its arms wrapped around him, hanging from his neck. There weren't distinct features but that would explain his progressive fatigue—he had been carrying a spirit around his neck all night.

She showed Naru and they both agreed to hurry back to the room. "Lin's with him, so the chance of him being choked or smothered by the spirit is slim, right?"

When Naru failed to answer, her anxiety skyrocketed. "Right?!"

Luckily, when they returned, they found John sleeping peacefully with his rosary in hand. His bible sat on a pillow next to his futon, indicating that he must have cleansed himself before he went to sleep.

She sent Naru a relieved smile while the teen in question nodded before returning to his "workstation."

After a brief discussion with Naru and Lin, they agreed to set up their smartphones overnight to survey the room for activity while they slept. Nice hotel or not, the building was still dated in some aspects due to a lack of ample outlets. The workaholics would have to choose: go to sleep and allow the phones to stay plugged in, or keep their laptops charged and continue working through the night.

Since this wasn't her problem and it was getting late, she brewed hojicha for the group with the kettle in their room and laid out her futon.

She quickly scribbled the day's contents in her journals before Naru surprised her by suddenly providing his email. She didn't have his cellphone number so this was a step forward for him—he was learning the ways of human communication!

In all seriousness, he only gave her the email so she could send him the haunted painting videos mentioned earlier and maybe some of the footage she took today.

That wouldn't stop her from sending other videos or ghost memes though.

By the time she drudged through all the internet threads and sent him the videos, sleep sounded much more appealing than listening to Naru critique each one.

Thus, she allowed herself to drift off to the land of sleep.

Mai found herself in a first-person vision.

Her name was Chiyo.

She remembered the day her beloved arrived with the other missionaries from the Western lands. His name was too hard for her to pronounce, so she resorted to calling him, Anata*.

Her father had placed the missionaries in the furthest wing from her court and ordered her to keep away from the area. Of course, she happened to chance upon the area during one of her secret walks away from the eyes of her handmaidens.

Initially, she was frightened to see so many foreign people. While some people shared her characteristics, the others looked nothing like the people she knew—their hair was lighter and their eyes and noses were different.

The clothes were tighter and the colors didn't appeal to her at all. They could've used at least one bright-colored haori in their ensemble.

While she hid around the corner to watch the ritual they were completing, she was startled by someone approaching behind her. It was a young man with light brown hair and blue eyes. He was dressed just as plainly as the other foreigners, but his face was quite pleasant to look at.

She blinked at him in surprise. When he spoke, she was not expecting to hear Japanese. It wasn't flawless but much better than she could've guessed.

"The Hime-sama of this castle is very beautiful," he said with a polite smile.

Heat crept up her cheeks as she looked away and fluttered her eyelashes. In the end, she couldn't find any words to say and ran away—she still wasn't good at talking to men. Flattered and curious though, she started "stumbling upon" the area every few days during her walks.

Sometimes they were just living their lives, and sometimes they were reading or singing. She didn't understand any of it but found it intriguing nonetheless.

At first, she came by just to observe them from afar. After she got caught watching a few times by the same man, he finally invited her to join them. Eventually, the two started spending time together separately from the group. Technically not allowed but she wasn't even supposed to be in that wing anyway.

Sometimes they talked about his homeland. Other times they talked about well-known areas to visit in her country. They could talk from dawn till dusk if they had the time, between her classes and his missionary work. While he did share some of his religion's teachings, he also spent time learning about her culture.

They both also bonded over the social structures that they were born into. She was raised and educated to be married off to some lord for the land's favor, regardless of the lord's age or demeanor. Meanwhile, his sisters were all sold off to men of dubious intent just for money. And without any fortune or prospects, her Anata* chose to become a man of faith.

Their visits grew more frequent until word reached her father.

As expected, he forbade her from entering that area of the castle ever again. However, he was foolish enough to believe a measly few handmaidens could keep her from rebelling.

A female missionary disguise was easy enough to manage with the help of her more loyal handmaidens. Since many of the female missionaries kept to themselves when not on duty, she likely wouldn't get caught if she kept her head bowed and didn't make eye contact.

Suddenly, before the vision could continue, the dream faded out before throwing Mai into a more lucid vision. This time, she found herself in the place of Chiyo while Gene took the place of Chiyo's Anata*.

Adrenaline pumped through her veins as the scene set itself into motion.

The two had been in mid-escape with the other missionaries as the castle was invaded by a neighboring army. As they hid to plan their escape in a storehouse, one of the missionary men suddenly turned to "Gene." What started as a stern discussion in their native tongue quickly became a full argument.

While Mai couldn't understand what they were saying, she had an inkling it was about her. The other man stopped abruptly before sending her a glare. His yelling startled her, beckoning her to back away.

Understanding dawned over her as she watched the other members watch her in fear and distrust, even the other women she had come to know. Ah. Despite being familiar with them, she was still an outsider—a person of the same characteristics as their attackers.

Backing away from Gene, her face betrayed her hurt with a smile. "Go on. You must escape with your group. I am sure my family is searching for me."

"There's no hope of you finding them now. Should you be caught, you will become a prisoner, or worst, killed," Gene argued as his brows furrowed. "Do not fret about my comrades. We are all God's children. We- I will not escape without you."

Mai shook her head, flinching away as he tried to reach out for her. She rushed to the doors, knowing he would try to stop her if she didn't hurry. Maybe if she could act as a decoy to steer the enemy away, then-

Before she could remove the barricade they had made, the sliding door was roughly kicked down to reveal a group of enemy troops. Their swords were smeared with blood while deep red splatters decorated their armor.

"We found the foreigners. Kill them all. We don't need our land to be tainted."

The next she knew, Gene yanked her behind him and shielded her in an embrace as a warrior's sword impaled him. The blade pierced through him and punctured into her chest and lungs. Gasping as the sword was yanked out, the two fell to the floor as their blood pooled under them. Each breath grew difficult as screams erupted behind her as people were slaughtered. Tears blurred her vision as she struggled through the pain of breathing.

Her loved one lay still on top of her, his blood quickly drenching her clothes.

Why did it have to turn out this way?

"How did it turn out?"

Mai blinked as lethargy weighed her eyelids down. She was grateful for the darkness that shrouded the room aside from the flickering of the lantern. There was a dull ache in her chest where "she" had been stabbed.

"Huh?"

"You said, 'Why did it have to turn out this way?'" said Naru from beside her.

She rested her forearm over her eyes to collect what she had seen. Why is my face wet?

"Here, Mai-san." That sounded like John. He handed her his handkerchief. His brows scrunched as he spoke, "You were crying in your sleep."

"Ah, that would make sense." She gladly took his offer and dried her face. "I feel like I just watched a whole season of some historical drama."

John popped a concerned smile, "That bad, mate?"

"I would've preferred a drawn-out fake death with a happy ending," she mumbled.

Sensing Naru's growing impatience, she delved into the events of her dream minus Gene's substitution. She skimmed over the trivial details of Chiyo's relationship since Naru could care less about the antics of a coming-of-age lady and her secret boyfriend, ghosts or not.

Mai wasn't sure if this Chiyo character was indeed John's stalker but it was likely. She explained to them that Chiyo may have identified the same soft demeanor in John that was in her lover. Since John was also a man of faith, it made sense for her to find comfort with him.

Speaking of John, apparently around 3:33 am, he had woken up to the feeling of pressure on his chest and difficulty breathing. He relieved it with his rosary prayer but was awoken further when he heard Mai's sounds of distress not long after.

Naru had only just laid down when this all began, so he was awake enough to notice. Meanwhile, Lin was a light sleeper, but he didn't feel the need to socialize and promptly stayed in his futon.

"Since this spirit is attached to the land, I recommend regularly blessing yourself should you feel her presence, Father. We don't know if it will choose to attach to you or not," he told John before returning to his futon.

Mai frowned. "Shouldn't we try to help Chiyo-san pass on then?"

"I have no interest in doing so," he said with unwavering stoicism. "We can't save every spirit we encounter just as we can't save every human we meet. If you cleanse her, will you also cleanse every spirit here?"

"I- well, no… but since she's made such a huge impression on us already, I don't want to just ignore her." Turning to John for input, the priest sent her a thoughtful look.

"While I understand Shibuya-san's thought process, I would be lying if I said that I didn't want to help this spirit as well. If my coming here can be encouraging to her, then I would like to try."

What a good soul—there was a reason why she liked this kid.

A sigh was heard from Naru's corner of the room. "I expect that we won't be checking out immediately tomorrow morning." Meaning that they would have at least the day to investigate.

With that settled, they finally decided to let Lin sleep in peace.

Mai returned to her dreams, this time aiming for her safe space. Once at the astral office, she was greeted by the scene of Gene and Usa-sama napping on the couch. Despite her efforts, the door closed a bit too loudly and woke them up.

"Uh, good evening?"

Gene yawned and stretched while their rabbit overlord followed suit. "Oh, how nice of it for Mai to visit. Glad to see we haven't been forgotten," he said to Usa-sama, sarcasm oozing from his voice.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother. It's only been like a day or two. And hey! Didn't I see you in my vision just now?"

"I was only experiencing the dream with you. There was no, 'How are you, Gene?' or 'I need to confide in you, my most trusted and experienced mentor.'"

If Naru had to deal with this since the womb, no wonder he turned out the way he did.

"Okay then, 'my most trusted and experienced mentor,' I would like to request a consultation. Would now be an appropriate hour for your valuable time?" She decided to humor him.

He pretended to think about it and check his imaginary schedule. "Perhaps, I could fit you in since you are one of my cherished disciples. It must be difficult having such a gifted Sifu*."

"Difficult indeed," she said with a strained voice as her mouth adopted a tight-lipped disposition. "In all seriousness though, John and I want to help 'Chiyo-san' pass on… but I'm not sure if she's the one following John. It would make sense, but maybe I'm off?"

Gene gave her a serious look, "Honestly, Mai, I think it'd be better to not get involved with this place. Just sleep, wake up, eat, and leave."

"But what about Chiyo-san? We saw her memories for a reason! I think she wants help."

"I know you want to help her. I do too but this is something that's out of your realm. Hell, even Naru's," he said, shaking his head. He then picked up Usa-sama. "This guy has been the one protecting you from the big bad. Don't let it be in vain."

She crossed her arms. Did he always have to be cryptic? "What's the big bad?"

Gene looked to be debating in his head and having a silent conversation with the rabbit deity before he sighed. "I'll show you. Once you see it, you're not going to want to stay longer."

It? Mai scrunched her brows in confusion. The group left the office and traveled through the astral plane until the scenery changed to a view of the whole hotel from above. She could see her room where she and her coworkers slept.

Her companion didn't say anything and allowed Mai to scan the premises herself. Multiple orbs floated around the building. She guessed these were the spirits haunting the hotel.

And then she saw it.

Her breath caught in her throat as everything hit her at once—fear, nausea, anxiety, and oppressive despondency.

At that moment, she remembered what Naru had told her earlier.

"Knowing this history, paranormal enthusiasts as well as ignorant people tend to come here to perform amateur seances and other means of contacting spirits. The hauntings have reportedly gotten worse over the years… a negative atmosphere in the south wing bathhouse… the other one is closed due to several accounts of being grabbed, pushed, or scratched. Under such conditions and the nature of a bathhouse, it was deemed unsafe for public access."

She gripped Gene's shirt and whispered, "What is that?"

"It has been merely playing with John all night," he said, his face grim. "Unless you're equipped to deal with a demon, I suggest you leave."

Mai shot up in her futon, fight or flight screaming for her to hightail it. Who or what had been around John then? Was it really Chiyo? Or was it the demon in disguise?

Usa-sama had been protecting her this whole time but what about her friends? John had ways of protecting himself but what about Naru and Lin? She wished she knew how to keep them all protected too.

She rubbed her face and checked the time. 8:00 am stared back at her. Lin was already awake typing away but Naru and John were nowhere to be found.

"Ah, good morning, Lin-san. Where are John and Naru?"

The stoic man looked up from his laptop, "I believe they went to the bathhouse."

She nodded and sighed. They'll be okay. They're just at the bathhouse and they're together. Plus, it's daytime. No problem. No worries.

And yet, she couldn't relax.

She simply didn't know what they were up against.

A while back she saw a few American horror movies where Ouija boarding or some other weird ritual released a demon. It couldn't be as bad as in those, right? The tourists were probably the ones to release it with all their seances and whatnot—Naru mentioned the activity only got worse as more people came.

Was there any chance they could free the spirits from the demon? John wasn't even an approved exorcist for this, though.

Sighing, Mai got up to begin her day. She skipped the bathhouse in favor of freshening up and changed out of her yukata into her normal clothes.

As she walked back, her curiosity got the better of her as she passed a sign for the south wing. She peeked around the corner and found it normal enough. She would only be strolling through.

She took a moment to note that, ironically, this area would've been where the missionaries resided centuries ago.

It was as she approached the closed bathhouse that her instincts went off. There was a sign in front politely telling residents to use the other bathhouse but no other physical barriers. Anyone could easily not care and prance right in.

Speaking of which, someone was already in there by the sound of the water and movement from the women's side. She was tempted to let them know the facility was closed but they'd already started. She got her answer when she heard a yelp and the sound of a body hitting the floor.

That can't be good!

"Excuse me, are you okay?" She called out from the dressing room. She didn't hear an answer and expected the worst when she peered into the room.

No one was there. The water wasn't even on.

The room looked like it hadn't been used in ages. The tiles were perfectly pristine and dry without a soap bottle out of place.

What…?

The hairs on her arms stood on end. She was tricked again.

"You need to leave," whispered Chiyo's voice. "It's not safe here."

Suddenly, she felt eyes on her, like daggers. A force from behind shoved her forward onto the bathing area's floor. She yelped and winced in pain when she hit her chin on the tile.

Mai tried to use every ounce of energy she could to sit up but was frozen like incorporeal chains had glued her limbs to the floor. Those cold eyes were still there, circling her like a predator would its prey. She shook from the trepidation as her heart slammed against her chest.

Her voice couldn't even leave her body, let alone scream for help.

I should've listened to Gene!

The lights shut off, casting the room into shadow. She was thankful for the bits of light from the windows. Especially so she could see the black shadow emerging from the floor. The figure looked human but had no defining features aside from the inhumanly long claws on its hands and feet.

She gagged, a whiff of rotting flesh permeating her nose as it approached. She squeezed her eyes shut and recited Usa-sama's prayer like a mantra. This angered the figure as it growled and swung a clawed arm at her. The prayer nullified some of the damage. Rather than full claw marks, only one claw strike appeared on her arm before the figure was repelled back.

That wasn't enough. The demon's enmity remained the same. She couldn't even blink before it had her pinned on her back, its rancid breath suffocating her.

Before it could do anything else, a small object was flung, releasing its hold on her.

It was John's rosary.

"Mai!" Footsteps were heard running into the room as the demon receded to the far corner.

She sucked in a relieved breath as Naru helped her sit up. She nearly flung herself into his chest, gripping his clothing for dear life. He didn't push her away, instead shifting his body to block her view of the evil across the room.

His fist clenched. He was furious. Furious at himself for being so powerless without Gene.

John stepped in front of them, immediately knowing what he was up against. He pulled out a second much larger rosary from his pocket as his face hardened. He began reciting a different set of verses, ones Mai had never heard before. His voice adopted a strength and authority she didn't know he was capable of.

Mai went in and out of consciousness. She heard and saw only bits and pieces of what happened next.

"…he gave them power against unclean spirits…"

"And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul…"

The last moments she remembered were the increasingly loud and imperious verses from John as ineffable screams erupted inside her head. Was she the only one hearing it?

She rested her full weight on Naru while her head fell to his shoulder. Her eyes fluttered as she struggled to keep them open. Mai then felt him lace his arms under her back and knees before carrying her out as the last of the demonic screams were heard.

"Why were you in there?"

"I… I only came to look, but I heard someone in there. It sounded like they got hurt, so I wanted to help."

"You're too gullible."

"I'm sorry…" she whispered before succumbing to sleep.

Naru glanced down at her and exhaled, his mouth tightening.

He was supposed to be an idiot scientist, so what was he doing?

Daimyo* = Feudal lord

Hara-kiri* = Suicide by piercing your abdomen in all directions. Usually followed by beheading for mercy (this is Seppuku). Hara-kiri does not include that mercy, resulting in a slow and painful death.

Furisode* = Kimono with extra-long sleeves; usually worn by young unmarried females, especially nobles

Anata* = "You" or an endearing name to call your partner/spouse

Sifu*, Shifu* = Teacher/Master in Cantonese and Mandarin respectively. I like to think that Lin is from Hong Kong, so he would've taught the twins words in Cantonese.

A/N: Welp, that turned out a bit differently than I planned, haha. Originally, it was going to be a lot more mellow, but I figured that would be too boring to drudge through. Besides, I needed higher stakes to drive Mai's growth. Unfortunately, the girl's a magnet for trouble, just like in the original series. Except more so now since she's spiritually awakened. I had a bit of trouble writing this because I had to change things a few different times (I was also on vacation and then there was the AO3 drought of '23 from that cyberattack). Despite it all, I hope the chapter is enjoyable to read.

And the conclusion will be in the next chapter. This isn't a full true case but maybe someday it will be! Also, if you guys haven't checked out "the anguished man" painting, I encourage it if you like all things ghost related. A documentary I also like is about "the pantry ghost." They're from the standpoints of people who are just trying to survive, but nope, gotta have ghosts too.

Btw, I added a cover I made if you'd like a look (or if you want a closer look, it's posted larger on the first chapter of this story on AO3, same username! I made it with watercolor a while ago, but I kind of regret not using gouache 'cause the picture's not smooth ; ; Also, yes, that's Gene's head peeking out in the corner!

Thanks for all the love for this fic, guys! It means the world to me, especially coming from a small fandom these days. I'm just happy that everyone's still here. If any of you are also GH writers, THANK YOU for contributing! We're all just happy to get any content these days :')

Hope you enjoyed it and please let me know what you think!