yay 4 chap! i know it's been a while but at least i'm alive huh? huh? *cricket chirp* no? okay then enjoy!

Chapter 4-Connections

July Day 3 3:50 P.M.

"You like Yasuhara!" Kiko paled slightly.

"And I bet he likes her back!" Mai smiled.

"Why else would h not hesitate to rescue her?"

Kiko started laughing. "Don't try to deny it, kid, it's written all over your face."

She gave a sigh. "That's not why I'm laughing or why I blushed."

"Tell us, oh wise one."

"Truth is, the CPR incident was probably the first time I had been kissed."

"Really?" Mai replied, plopping herself on the floor.

"Well, at least since I was Satoshi's age. As for Yasu, I did have a crush on him but-"

"I knew it!"

"But I knew right away he didn't feel the same."

"How come?"

"I wanted to know why someone as popular as him didn't have a girlfriend. So, I did a little research-"

"You stalked him."

"Thank you, Ayako. Anyway, after a while I began to think that he was gay, or at least that's what all the girls thought. Then one day I asked him."

"If he was gay?"

"No, Mai, why he didn't have a girlfriend."

"And?"

"He said there was no one at school who was really his type."

"Or he was too shy to tell you."

"I don't think so. Yasu's never really shy; the idea that he's gay would be more likely."

"I don't know, love has some pretty strange ways."

"Yeah, like you and Monk!"

"In his dreams!"

"Now that I knew," Kiko laughed.

"Let's not forget you and Naru!"

"Shut up, Ayako!"

Knock. Knock.

"Come in!" Kiko called, as her brother walked in.

"Satoshi-kun?" Mai's mouth dropped slightly.

"Okaa-san said dinner's ready, if you're up fir it," he said sheepishly.

"Thanks, Satoshi," Kiko smiled, getting up.

"Kiko, you shouldn't be moving," Ayako protested.

"I'm fine, I'm hungry, and if you think something like this is gonna stop me from witnessing a séance, you're dead wrong," she smiled.

"Sorry, Ayako, she may be even more stubborn than Naru."

After dinner, the nine of them met in one of the storage rooms on the third floor. A Japanese styled table with nine mats was set up. Naru had Monk keep the rest of the family in the living room covered with charms and a protective spell. As long as they didn't leave the room, they should be safe.

"Are you sure you wanna be here for this?" Monk asked.

"Are you kidding?" Kiko smiled. "Miss possibly my only chance to witness a séance first hand? I don't think so."

"Yup, more stubborn than Naru," Mai whispered.

"Only more polite and cheerful about it," Ayako added.

Masako was at the head of the table. Lin, Kiko, Monk, and Yasuhara from the right of her, and Naru, Mai, Ayako, and John at her left. Two candles were placed on the table. "Are you ready, Hara-san?" Naru asked.

"Hai." With that, Masako's head dropped and their night vision camera started rolling.

"Who are you?" Naru asked confidently.

"In my time, we were taught to respect our elders and introduce ourselves," Masako growled, a smirk appearing on her face.

"Are you the one who gave Kiko those marks?"

"Cocky, aren't you?"

"Are you the owner of the house that burned down?"

"That wasn't my fault!" Masako screamed.

"What is your name?" Naru remained completely unfazed.

"I refuse to give my name to a cocky bastard like you!" Masako started thrashing about.

"Are S and A your initials?"

"You're one smartass bastard!"

"Nakagawa Kiko was only five years old at the time of the fire, why do you want revenge?"

"She's the reason I'm still here!" Masako yelled, leaning toward Naru. "Her great-granddaughter is the only way to get back at her! They're one in the same!"

"Were you the one who pushed her and my assistant of the cliff?"

"Ha! Your assistant got in my way! If you hadn't bothered to jump in, I could've ridden us both of us of two annoyances!" Masako glanced at Kiko then at her hands. "This body has annoyed you all once or twice, surely you won't miss her."

Masako lifted her hands and began choking herself. "Monk! Lin! Restrain her!" Naru ordered, they quickly obliged. "John!"

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…" John started as Masako writhed in pain.

"That can't stop me!" She broke free and pounced toward Kiko, who jumped back as Monk and Lin got a hold of her again. She began chanting something.

"John, hurry!" Naru ordered.

John continued his prayer as Naru turned to Yasuhara. "Get the girls out of here! Now!"

"Right!" Yasuhara put his hand on Kiko's shoulder guiding her out. Ayako took Mai and followed.

"In principio," John finished as a black mist came out of Masako's mouth. She passed out immediately after.

The mist began to glow a blue tint, forming a dragon like shape that stared at Naru. "I tried to do you a favor. You will pay!" it growled soaring towards him.

Mai's mind just flashed back to their last case, it ended badly. She couldn't let that happen again, if that ghost knew how to control his PK, they would all be dead. "Naru!"

Naru stood still, ready to take on whatever this thing was, only barely registering Mai's cry. The spirit was racing toward him when something knocked him out of the way. Turning around only confirmed his theory and worried him even more.

Mai had pushed Naru out of the way; the spirit ran into her, throwing her against the wall. It went through her much like what happened to Naru. Cries of shock, pain, and concern were heard as Mai slumped down to the floor with a moan. Everyone ran to her, blood was seeping out of the right side of her waist. The ghost laughed. "I wasn't aiming for her, but that made things more interesting!"

"Monk!" Naru shouted.

"Nau maku san man dabazara dan kan!"

The ghost went away, leaving Mai bleeding on the floor, Masako passed out, and the rest of the team worried. "I'll get Kimura-san!" John rushed out of the room as Ayako tried to stop the bleeding.

"This isn't good," she muttered as Yasuhara removed his shirt to help stop the flow of blood.

"Where do you think you're going!" Ayako shouted.

"There's a piece of information we're missing. I intend to find it," Naru stated coldly.

"Aren't you going to at least wait until you find out she's okay? Or give your thanks to Sakura! We're goddamn lucky she's a doctor!"

"Ayako-san, please, shh," a soft voice cut in.

"Sakura-san! Gomen ne!" Ayako quickly bowed. "How is she?"

"She'll be fine, it looked worse than it was," Sakura smiled. "But she's in a lot of pain; I gave her something for it. If she sleeps until noon tomorrow she'll be up and around tomorrow afternoon if she takes it easy."

"Thank you," Ayako said gratefully, as Naru nodded and left. "And he means 'thank you.' he's such an ass!"

"The strong silent type," Sakura grinned. "Much like Satoshi."

She left after that, then the everlasting question arose. "What so we do now?" the priest managed to ask, him still in his blood covered robes. Stained in Mai's blood.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say Lin's leaving with Naru." Yasuhara folded his arms.

"As much as I agree with Ayako and want to hit him, he was right about one thing," Monk stood up and began to pace.

"What would that be?" Masako leaned forward in her chair.

"No one is to be alone in this house," Monk finished. "Masako, Ayako, try to stay together." he turned to John and Yasuhara. "John, stay with the rest of the family, to make things safer, I think you should all camp out in the living room. Mai is in no condition to be moved and Kiko's already in there looking after her, Yasuhara and I will camp out in there."

"That sounds good," the priest sighed.

"Masako, before you and Ayako go to bed, I want you to check Mai, make sure she's not possessed like Naru was last case," Monk asked. She nodded walking into the room. "After that, I think should call it a night, agreed?"

"Agreed." Masako walked back out.

"Well?"

"I don't sense anything," she smiled. "There's nothing possessing her."

"That's a relief."

"Okay guys, get some sleep. We'll figure out what to do in the morning."

She found herself holding someone's hand; the pain in her side had vanished as she looked up to her companion. "What are they doing to that man, otou-san?" Mai asked, confused as to why she called this man her father.

"He's crazy, Kiko-chan," was his reply.

"Naze?"

"He believes his wife is trying to talk to him," he paused. "His wife died a long time ago."

"So? Maybe it was a spooky ghosty!"

"That does not excuse his actions; he's been taking women to use as dummies trying to talk to his wife."

"I don't understand."

"Its fine, you're young, you don't need to understand just yet."

"Okay."

The scene changed, a mob was surrounding a man who was by the cliff. Mai stood next to Naru watching. "I'm innocent!" the man cried out.

"Naru, what's going on?" Mai asked, he didn't answer. A five year old girl who looked like a combination of Kiko and Sakurako walked by, stopping to stare at the scene.

"Nakagawa, Kiko?"

"Kiko, is this the man you saw?" the man Mai called "otou-san" before asked.

"He-he grabbed Haruka-san! She's in his house!" the poor girl was terrified.

"That's a lie! I never touched her!"

"Nakagawa-san! We found something!" a man shouted from where a small cottage stood.

Naru tried to turn Mai's head away, but it was too late. She saw the horrific sight.

"Haruka?" someone gasped. They were looking at the corpse of a young woman, no older than twenty, her face torn off.

"This was what she was wearing when she disappeared…" an angry voice trailed off. Haruka's father?

The man by the cliff stared intently at Kiko. "You! It's your fault!" he screamed.

"Yakumo! Use the torch!" someone shouted, the cottage burst into flames.

"No! My home!"

"You're not worthy of a home!" Kiko's father shouted.

"You're daughter will die by my hand!"

"Yakumo! Take Kiko away from here!"

Kiko was picked up by a young man, no older than Yasuhara or John. "Nakagawa Kiko will die!" A shout came.

The young Kiko watched in as much awe as Mai as one of the villagers used a piece of metal to hit the back of the man's head/ he tumbled down into the water as Kiko's eyes widened and the vision faded.

In the blackness, Mai heard a woman's voice. "Shichiro!"

"Naru, why does that sound familiar?"

Naru smiled. "I'm sure you heard that a couple of nights ago in your dream."

Mai shook her head, she thought she had a dream. Before the one about the murder, but she couldn't place it.

Naru placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's fine if you don't remember, you're only human," he said comfortingly.

Why can't Naru act this understanding in real life? Mai wondered.

"Because I'm just an idiot scientist."

Mai blushed at that. He can hear my thoughts!

"Not always, just remember, I'm your guide. I need to know your questions even if you don't tell me."

"Shichiro!"

"Shichiro?" Mai wondered aloud. "Nee, Naru, is that the female spirit Masako sensed earlier? And Shichiro is the man?"

Naru half shook his head, half nodded. "The man in the house is Shichiro, you just witnessed his death," Naru explained. "The woman calling out is just a memory, a residual haunting."

"Residual haunting?"

"It's a ghost that's like a tape player; it repeats the same thing over and over again at the same time and place. She's no threat."

"Is she the woman Masako sensed?"

Naru shook his head. "No, this woman was exorcised during Monk's exorcism."

"Then why is she in my dream?"

"She is part of the reason the man stays here. She's calling out to him."

It started to click. The pieces began to fit together. "Nee, Naru, who is the woman spirit? And why is she hiding?"

Naru smiled. "You're starting to figure it out."

Mai suddenly felt pain in her side, bringing her to her knees. Naru knelt beside her.

"You're starting to wake up."

"Naru, it hurts," Mai whimpered.

But Naru was already fading away. The darkness fading into a soft orangey glow. Pain in her right side made her want to sleep again. Where she could talk to Naru and gain more information.

"He hasn't come back, huh?"

That sounds like Monk.

"No, and there's been no activity since the séance."

Masako?

"I don't know what will make me angrier, him dragging his ass back here as indifferent as always, or him staying out for another day!"

Another day? What is Ayako going on about?

"The entity is probably gathering his strength, what about that other spirit you sensed, Masako?"

Was that Yasuhara? He sounds so tired.

"She's been hiding, she wants to help us, but doesn't know how."

"All the family members have charms, right Ayako?"

Monk sounds even more exhausted.

"That's right; Sakura also said lunch would be ready by one."

Okay, I really don't care about where I am, but when I am!

"If Naru doesn't come back today, what are you going to do?"

The voice was soft and so close to Mai. Why is Kiko speaking so softly? Oh. Right. They all think I'm asleep.

"I'm not sure, I would like to get you, your family, and Mai out of here so we can exorcise the spirit, but we don't know if this thing will follow you."

"It was angry with Naru, but didn't follow him," Masako tried.

"But he's not this thing's target, Kiko is," Yasuhara pointed out.

"He's really not going to stop until I'm dead," Kiko sighed, though she didn't seem fearful.

"Or until we can exorcise it. We're not gonna let you die, Kiko," Ayako scolded.

"Calm down," Kiko laughed a little. "With you guys, I don't fear for my life, besides I think are friend is waking up."

Mai tried opening her eyes; somehow, the simple movement sent pain down her whole body. Wincing slightly, she smiled to everyone.

"Morning, Mai," Monk called softly.

yes Mai had a VERY long dream but she also slept a REALLY long time and those of you who were confused by the case itself maybe the chap has shed some light can you put the pieces together? trust me it will b very obvious haha maybe not really but once you see it you'll b kicking yourself for not seeing it earlier haha yeesh Naru we all kno you were worried about Mai and you were pissed that she dove to take your place swallow your pride for god's sake! haha review plz any questions feel free to ask me lol ;)