sorry for the long wait however i got stuck again but thats no excuse right? lol anyway my research project is finally done and on my presentation i did AMAZING so happy for my A XD anyway u dont want to hear about school so on with the chapter sorry if its a little boring but i needed this in order to get ready for the next chapter :)

Chapter 4-E.V.P.

September Day 3, 8:08 A.M.

With a groan our favorite sleepy brunette rolled out of her bed and headed for the bathroom. It had been a long night for her, her dream simply consisted of her conversation with her boss after the incident with Akahana, as well as gory images that always seemed to follow her.

Of course the dream itself was not what played in her little head as she brushed her teeth. It was the conversation she had the night before and the horrible feeling she gained after it.

It was in her realization that she raced after her employer as he went to call the young priest. "Matte! Naru!" she called as they neared Base.

"What is it, Mai?" he returned somewhat annoyed. Surprise overtook that emotion when she gripped his sleeve.

"Don't call John!" she practically begged, causing him to raise a brow.

"His expertise is required for this case," he retorted, removing his arm from her grasp. "We need him or else Akahana is in danger-"

"John will be in danger if he comes!" she exclaimed, pulling on his shoulder.

Annoyed once again, Naru turned around. "And just what makes you say that?"

"This thing hates God." she said, he raised his brow again.

"Mai-" he never finished as his younger assistant blurted out this incident involving the demon like being.

"Something's telling me that if John does come here, he will be in far more danger than Akahana is!" she stood firm and her eyes held a determination that her employer had seen several time before, but today it was slightly frightening.

"I'm sorry, Mai, but he needs to be called," he said with a sigh, turning away and walking toward the table of monitors that Mai hadn't realized they had migrated into Base with their argument.

She took a step back as the door closed and Naru dialed the number. Her hear sank, a feeling of dread and anxiety filled her as she found it hard to breathe. A pounding in her head matched the rhythm of the one in her chest as her legs felt weak. Felt as though they would topple over despite her light weight.

She did the only thing she could think of doing.

She ran.

She shook her head of the memory to discover she had gotten herself dressed and observed her blind job in the mirror. Not bad, if she did say so herself, jeans and black tank top and a blue cardigan with a belt at her waist. Perhaps she should become lost in thought every time she got dressed.

After Akahana's attack the night before, the EVP session had been abandoned and Mai had stayed in her hotel room during dinner. She walked through the hallway, passing Base after a quick glimpse, she didn't expect to see anyone in there anyway. If anyone from the team was up, they were probably down having breakfast.

She reached the dining hall to find it practically empty, not even her team was there. That's odd…she thought to herself quickly glancing at a nearby clock to make sure she wasn't early or late for breakfast. 8:21, no I didn't miss anything…

"Morning, Mai!" a cheerful voice called out through the room.

"Akahana-san, ohayo," Mai replied, greeting the woman. "Where is everyone?"

The woman paused for a moment in thought. "Sorry, I don't know, Shibuya-san requested that three breakfast plates be sent up to your base. Ayako and Masako claimed they weren't that hungry and I haven't seen Takigawa-san this morning," she shrugged apologetically. "How about you? Are you hungry?"

Mai could feel her stomach was about to make the noise it always did when she was hungry. "Hai," she replied with a smile.

"Good, because, so am I," she laughed and escorted the girl over to a table. Within moments, the two were served their meal by a waiter. "Arigato, Haruto."

They began to eat making conversation as they did so. "If you don't mind my asking, how's your arm?" Mai asked, motioning to the bandage wrapped around the woman's left arm.

"Oh this?" She lifted it up slightly. "It's just a scratch, it'll heal within a few days. It's a good thing I found you, I'm trying to avoid Ryouta for a little bit."

"How come?"

"Oh, he's just very jumpy and paranoid, with some reason, but it's a little overwhelming. I need to do something, I've never been someone who could sit still for too long, and his anxiety is just making me fidget!" she explained, continuing her meal.

A conversation that occurred the day before had made its way into the brunette's mind. There had to be a reason for the attacks on this woman, from what she gathered from her year and a half working with Naru and the others one thing was for certain. Everything happens for a reason, a true coincidence is very rare when you look at the facts behind an incident. And it was time she had done some investigating of her own.

"Nee, Akahana-san, I understand that you may not wish to go into the subject, but I would like to know, what might be your input of this haunting?" Mai asked as politely as she could think of.

"A very formal approach, not many your age would even think of addressing someone that way. Did Shibuya-san force you to speak like that to all your clients?" the woman teased, Mai smiled, realizing that she was referring to Yasuhara.

"You could say that," Mai chuckled. "But, really, what do you think is going on here?"

Akahana put down her fork and sighed, looking up in thought. "I don't know, I'm not exactly an expert when it comes to ghosts or things like that, but ever since I started working here the air seemed heavier, especially around me. There were even several instances where I had walked into a room and someone mentioned how the atmosphere seemed to turn. I just didn't know why…"

"Can you tell me if there is anything that might have made this spirit angry with you?"

"Made the spirit angry with me? Sorry, Mai, I don't follow," the woman raised a brow.

Mai silently regretted how much her next statement along with the others she had made her sound so much like her stoic employer. "You have been targeted by the spirit twice now, the incident last night proved that this spirit has something against you. The question is what?"

The woman's breathing hitched, but only for a moment and she returned to her breakfast. "As terrifying as that sounds, it also makes sense. I understand Ryouta's paranoia now, but what can we do? I really don't know what this thing may have against me, but maybe if I think about it, I can come up with something," she tried to smile.

Mai's eyes grew sympathetic and she placed her hand on the woman's own. "I'm sorry, Akahana-san, I've been hanging around Naru too much and unfortunately his slight bluntness is contagious."

Akahana smiled and place her other hand on top. "It's quite all right, Mai, it's good that you told me." She looked at their now empty plates. "Well, I believe it's time you run off to your boyfriend, you can't keep him waiting, right?"

Mai blanched slightly at the comment. "Naru and I aren't dating…." she managed to mutter as a blush crept up her cheeks.

Akahana laughed as she picked up both plates. "I know, but it's fun teasing you," she smiled and gave the girl a wink. "Let me know if that status changes, I want details."

Mai desperately fought the blush creeping up her cheeks, failing miserably as the woman chuckled as she walked back into the kitchen. Oh, whatever greater being that might be out there, please don't let Akahana start hanging out with Monk during this case, or Yasuhara for that matter, it won't end well for me…Mai silently prayed to whoever would listen. This was going to be a long case…

"Seeing as Mai finally decided to join us," Mai glared daggers at her black clad employer, "it is time we get some work done."

"Idiot scientist," Mai muttered under her breath, crossing her arms.

"Yasuhara-san, Matsuzaki-san, I need you two to speak with both Ishikawa Ryouta and Akahana. Try to see if there is any information they are not telling, anything that may have led this entity to target them-"

"There's nothing that they could think of," the brunette blurted, her sour expression still prominent on her face.

"What do you mean, Mai?" Monk raised a brow as the girl let out a breath.

"Well," she began a slightly cocky smirk appeared on her face. Hey, she did something before her employer ordered her or anyone else to, she should take some pride. "When I went down for breakfast this morning, Akahana-san offered to join me and I decided, 'hey, just so none of you guys could say I overslept or was slacking off or was being unproductive, why don't I try to see if there was anything she wasn't telling us.' From what I could see, if there is something this spirit has against Akahana-san, she has no idea what on Earth it could be."

"So, you decided to bring up a very touchy subject to a very pregnant woman who was already under major stress?" Ayako confirmed, raising a brow and crossing her arms. "That sounds very much like what Naru would do…"

Mai felt heat begin to rise in her cheeks and she fought hard to keep it at bay. She truly hated those words. Hated how much her employer was rubbing off on her. "I know this is a sensitive subject, but I assure you, I would never have pressed further if she had refused to answer," Mai added.

"Harsh, yet tactful," Masako commented from her corner.

"Did you bother to interview Ryouta-san?" Naru remarked coldly, Mai paled and shook her head.

"I only spoke with-"

"If you had the common sense to speak with Akahana about it, I would have expected you to speak to Ryouta as well, otherwise you have wasted our time and left more work for us to do," he explained coldly, opening his notebook.

Her jaw dropped. She felt heated anger boil in the pit of her stomach. Her fists clenched. And her mind played fantasies of her beating this man to a pulp. He really knew how to piss her off.

"Come now, Naru-chan," Yasuhara chided. "At least she tried, and she found some informa-"

"Yasuhara-san and Matsuzaki-san, I would like you to conduct the interviews and finish what Mai began," he interrupted, wishing to not hear another word of the incident. "Hara-san, I need you to do another walkthrough of the property, Monk and Lin will accompany you. Lin, set up your Shiki in places that seem to have the most malicious presence."

"What about Mai?" Ayako asked, standing up.

"Mai and myself will stay here and monitor Base. I would like the group to meet up before lunch if possible."

Several of the room's occupants sucked in their breath, even Lin, though it had gone unnoticed, had the said brunette been in just about any other mood, she would have complained about the dull job. No, she saw it as a possible opportunity to beat this young man within an inch of his life, without a six foot tall Monk holding her back.

"On that note, I feel we should get to our places," Yasuhara ordered, playing boss again. One by one everyone silently walked out, wishing to not be a part of the possible catastrophe about to occur.

Mai sat at the on the couch she had fallen asleep on two nights before and tried her very best to be on her good behavior. Instead of focusing on her obnoxiously egotistical, narcissistic scientist of a boss, she tried to think of the case, tried to think of anything she may have missed. Anything to keep her from strangling her employer. What was the order of events?

A man had supposedly committed suicide a year ago.

Akahana had been attacked just days before we arrived.

Something made me go upstairs instead of down on our first day.

I passed out in the hall trying to bring Naru tea as something made the tea give me burns….

She began to feel a slight burning and itching sensation on her wrists.

I began having dreams of disturbingly violent images.

When I went to apologize to Naru, I had that vision of that demon-like thing.

Then that ghostly maid appeared.

We find out that there have been suicides happening on the second of October for that last seventy years.

That letter in the drawer.

She began scratching.

We found out about all the sorts of activity.

She started scratching a little harder.

Just as we were about to have that E.V.P. session, or whatever, Akahana-san-

"Mai, when was the last time you changed your bandages?"

He managed to snap the girl out of her reverie, as she looked at him. "Uh…" she looked at the bandages on her hands. She couldn't remember if she had changed them the day before, they didn't bother her too much the day before and she forgot about them. Now, it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

Reading her mind, the boy sighed and stood up. "Come on," he ordered softly, standing up and heading for the door. Mesmerized, she followed.

The two of them headed through the hall and down the stairs. Walking across the lobby before Naru said another word. "Do you know where the least crowded part of the kitchen is?" he asked her, she nodded, seeming to have forgotten her earlier anger.

He let her lead the way as she found the kitchen with no trouble at all. Once there, he began to remove the gauze, reveal red blotchy skin and revolting bubbly white blisters, a few had popped glowing bright red along with the rest of her skin. Leading her to the sink, Naru put the tap on cool and gently guided her hands into the rushing water.

Mai carefully watched everything he was doing, he had never been one to treat injuries, had he? Well, this was the first time she had been burned on a case, granted she had burned herself plenty of times in the office while making his tea, but those were tiny little red marks, not blisters.

Naru had approached one of the chefs in the kitchen, asking for the First Aid Kit. He quickly brought it out and he went back to work. Naru came back, washed his hands and lightly patted Mai's hands dry and tapped the counter slightly. "I need you to sit on the counter."

She looked at her hands and the two of them realized just how useless they would be in this situation. Rolling his eyes at his own stupidity, Naru lifted her up from under her arms and placed her on the counter, ignoring her blush as he went straight to the medical kit. He carefully removed the remains of dead skin from the raw broken blisters, as she winced slightly in surprise. He dressed the wounds with the burn cream and wrapped more gauze on her hands loosely before putting back the leftover materials neatly into the kit.

He returned the kit to the chef, as Mai jumped off the counter. "I was harsh and inappropriate earlier this morning," he said before walking out of the kitchen. "I apologize."

Mai was stunned as she tried to keep up with him. "Apology accepted," she called back as they reached the staircase. "Why did you say that all of a sudden?" she blurted as they began their ascent.

"Excuse me?"

"You've never been one to apologize, I believe the only other time I've heard you apologize was when we were on the Yoshimi case," she gave a slight smirk as she realized his true intent. "You need my help don't you?"

They were halfway down the hall of the third floor, when Naru stopped and smiled. "You're getting smarter and smarter everyday," he smirked.

He started to walk away and Mai narrowed her eyes. "You said the same thing at Yasuhara's school," she retorted, rushing up to him. "What do you need? It can't be tea, we were just in the kitchen and you hardly want me out of your sight."

"Our E.V.P. session yesterday," he began ignoring her comment as they walked back into Base.

"What about it? I thought we scrapped it after Akahana got hurt," she replied, taking the swivel chair next to her employer in front of the monitors.

"We didn't scrap it, we stopped it, we still have a couple minutes of audio that I would like your input on." Well, this was a surprise, seems like he actually wants her ideas now. About time.

"Okay?" she raised a brow but obediently put on the headphones and listened to the tape.

She listened quietly, hearing the explanation of E.V.P. amongst the static from the night before. "Is there anyone here with us?" she heard Naru's voice ask.

"…Akahana…" an old breathy voice whispered, Mai barely heard it, but gasped as she did.

"Turn it up," she ordered her boss, who obeyed.

"…Akahana…Ma-"

"AKAHANA-SAN!" she heard the scream and then the recording went dead.

"What did you hear?" Naru asked her, she let out the breath she didn't realize she had been holding.

She couldn't form words and just handed the headset to him. "Forward it to right after you ask your question, there's a voice," she stuttered.

He did as she said, messing with the settings, then handing the headset back to her. "Listen to it again and tell me what you hear."

She did, the audio was much clearer and her employer's voice sounded far away but the static died down a little and the whispering voice was most certainly male she concluded. "…Akahana…Ma-"

"It's saying, 'Akahana' and the last thing…" she listened to it again. "Is-is it saying my name?"

"That's what I heard," Naru confirmed, saving the evidence in a file on the laptop.

"We need to do another one of those again," Mai concluded, looking up to Naru.

"That was a given, Mai," he remarked coldly.

And just when I thought we might be on good terms…she thought bitterly as she rolled her eyes and sighed.

September Day 3, 2:37 P.M.

By this point of the day, the group had gathered in room 217 like the night before.

"Seeing as our session yesterday went interrupted, it's only logical that we continue now," Naru said, placing the recording device on the bed as everyone sat around or on the bed. "We will introduce ourselves with our names, so when we review we can pinpoint who is speaking. I will ask the first question, we will wait sometime and then anyone else may ask what they feel should be necessary." Everyone nodded and Naru turned on the recorder. "In room 217, Narumi…" He looked to the brunette next to him.

"Mai." she stated clearly, turning to the tall Chinese man beside her.

"Lin."

"Masako."

"Ayako."

"Takigawa."

"Kazuya," Yasuhara was the last one to give his fake name, in case anyone other than the team had to listen to the recording.

"Is there anything here with us?" Naru asked aloud, waiting several seconds before looking to his companions or any other questions.

"Can you give us all a sign of your presence? A knock perhaps?" Masako asked clearly, not speaking behind her kimono sleeve as to not muffle her voice.

After a moment, Masako stiffened slightly, and not long afterward…

Knock.

Mai stifled her gasp as she and everyone else heard it clear as day.

"What is your name?" Ayako asked next.

After another moment Monk added his question. "Were you one of the men who died in 534?"

Several moments passed before Yasuhara added his two cents. "Are you afraid of something here? Knock on the wall twice for yes, once for no."

It was a long time for this reply. Everyone stared at each other in silence. "Perhaps he lef-" Ayako offered but was halted by Monk's hand.

Knock…

Knock…

Instantly, before anyone else could respond the college student took his chance. "What are you afraid of?"

"Why is Akahana-san being targeted?" Lin finally inquired after a moment, leaving only one other member to give her question.

There was one thing that had been on her mind since she and Naru were working on the recording from earlier. It was only when Naru nodded to her, reading her mind, giving her the cue to ask.

"Where you the one in here yesterday? The one who spoke into our recording?" she asked, waiting a few moments before continuing. "You were saying Akahana's name, were you also trying to say mine as well?"

It was not long after that did Naru finally say, "End of E.V.P. session," and turned off the recorder. He handed the device to his assistant. "Lin, review the tape, if you hear anything have Mai listen to it," he ordered, standing up and heading for the door. "I need to make a call."

The rest of the group remained stunned as he left. Monk turned to the most stunned girl of the room. "When did you and Naru make nice all of a sudden?" he asked her.

She shrugged shocked as well. "He apologized about his behavior this morning after he helped me change my bandages and then wanted my help with the recording from yesterday," she answered, somewhat gazing off toward the hall.

"Naru apologized? And helped you with your wounds? Is this the apocalypse or something?" the priestess teased with a smirk.

"No, it's not the apocalypse," Yasuhara said matter of factly, then point to Lin. "Lin hasn't said so anyway and he's our Naru-specialist."

Even the Chinese man managed to chuckle with everyone at the joke.

September Day 3, 3:03 P.M. Tokyo Library

The last couple of days had been rough on our favorite blond priest. Though there were not many Catholics, or any others belonging to another Christian religion for that matter, living in Japan, many had wished for the lovable priest to bless their homes. Even had an exorcism to perform just two days before.

What? You thought Naru was the only one to have John exorcise a possessed person? Not in the slightest! The young man having achieved his title at such an impressive age, many actually believed him to be one of the best exorcists around. Perhaps they were right.

John sat at a rather large table filled with boxes of papers and books and newspapers and just about anything he could get his hands on about the property of the hotel. He wondered how a library in Tokyo could have so much information about one specific area in Kyoto, but didn't question his luck after that. This meant that he wouldn't have to waist a seven hour drive to get to a library and then have to do this extensive amount of work. He had been there since nine that morning, knowing nothing about how long such a task could take by one's self. He wondered how Yasuhara did it.

He looked at the clock. 3:05. There was no way he would be able to finish the research and get to Kyoto by that night. He had only gotten through about half of the paperwork. He was just happy that the librarians were kind enough to allow him to use this spare room for his work. And that his ability to read Kanji had improved greatly since his arrival two years before.

The lines on a particularly old page of newspaper were starting to merge as the boy felt his phone vibrate. Thankful for the excuse, he found that it was the very man who assigned him the work in the first place. Stepping out of the room to stretch his legs, he made his way over to a corner of the library by the restrooms, where his call would not disturb anyone.

"Moshi moshi?" he said into the receiver softly.

"Father Brown, how's the research coming? Are you on your way to the hotel?" the younger man asked amongst slight static.

John let out a breath and rubbed his eyes before continuing. "Forgive, Kazyuya-san, however, there is a lot of information about the property for one person to go through. I'm afraid I haven't even made a dent," he apologized with a shake of his head.

"I see," Naru exhaled into his line. "How long do you think you'll take?"

"I'm staying at the library until I finish researching. I promise I'll head over to the hotel with what information I found at some point tomorrow. I'll probably arrive tomorrow evening," John confirmed, leaning against the wall.

"All right," Naru replied. Was John imagining it, or did the young owner sound exhausted? "We'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Right, I'll see you tomorrow." He hung up the phone and rubbed his eyes again. He really didn't want to go through those newspapers again. He sighed and heard someone behind him.

"John? Is that you?" the familiar voice called, and the blond practically jumped at the statement. "Need any help?"

He turned to see someone he wasn't sure he would see again. It had been a while. "Is that you?" he said, migrating over to the person. "Wow, I haven't seen you since…"

so just who is this mysterious person that john met at the library? lol maybe you'll find out next chapter. maybe you'll have to wait until the chapter after that lol im so evil

anyway special thanks to everyone who reviewed and favorited and followed this story i hope u guys are enjoying it :) and thanks to everyone who has been sending in ideas as to where a case might be please keep them coming i have an idea for next case but there are still cases after that and i still need new places to send the gang to lol

and to anyone who is interested in my naruto/nejiten fics forgive me however i will not be working on them for a while and i won't explain why here because it contains spoilers but let's just say after reading the latest issues of the manga im VERY unhappy with kishimoto ugh...

anyway please review they make me feel all warm inside but please no bashing (by that i mean dont just review to say it sux and u wont read it anymore i couldn't care less that you hate it) and give me anything that might make this fic better (but remember it is my fic so i hold the controls lol) im ranting...i'll stop lol

jaa nee! please review XD