Well here we go! A new chapter! Things are starting to get interesting! I won't bore you with any notes up here so enjoy!

Chapter 3-The Performance

"Matsuzaki-san, go with her…"

"John, accompany her…"

"Monk…"

"Lin…"

"Make sure you're never a lone…"

"I'll explain, for her sake..."

"If I must dumb it down…"

"All you do is get into trouble!"

"I always have to save you!"

"No wonder your abilities are like a wild animal, you act like one…"

"I just can't stand how horribly he treats you!"

"You're a danger magnet, Mai."

"I don't trust him."

"Mai, tea."

"You're theory is amateur at best…"

"It's abuse!"

January Day 3 3:13 A.M.

Mai shot up to a sitting position. Cold sweat dripped from her brow as she exhaled heavily. It took several moments for her speeding heart to relax and her breaths to slow and deepen. This was one of those moments where she wished she could say it was all "just a dream." Not this time. She couldn't say it was a vision of someone else's life. It wasn't. It was as real as she was. And it was her life the last nearly two years. She hated this. Hated how much sense it made. How she endured such treatment for so long. How much it hurt to realize it. How worried her friends had been for so long. And how her boss of all people just might have caused it all.

Flopping back to her pillow, she glanced at the clock. This was the earliest she had woken up in a couple of weeks, but she had done worse. It wasn't like she was going to be able to go back to sleep. Not now that she was all riled up. She was going to have to meet up with Tsubame in a couple of hours anyway. She may as well get up and do some studying.

She sat back up and reached over for her school bag. After so many nights like this, she had become accustomed to leaving it right next to her bed. Pulling out a textbook, she began reading a chapter in history. At the same time, her mind continued to wander back to the conversation she had with her boyfriend. He didn't really tell her to find a new job, right? That was just how it sounded. He couldn't want her to do that, not after all the good she has done with it. Even Hozumi had mentioned that she might want to consider switching occupations, but she held her ground. So, why was it so hard to hold her ground now? It wasn't like the question was any different. But it was. Hozumi asked her to consider it because of the spiritual aspects that had taken a toll on her. Shouta asked her because of the living emotional aspect that took its toll. What if Shouta was right? What if everything she dealt with the last couple of months that he and Hozumi had helped her through was all because of Naru and what he's done to her?

Taniyama Mai was once able to turn these sleepless nights into nights of productivity. It could be shown through her grades. Tonight, she was just too preoccupied. Her heart raced and tears began to cover the page of history before her. It had been a while since she had one of these attacks. She thought she was through with them.

She was wrong.

She silently cursed herself as she tried to control her shallow breaths.

January Day 3, 12:45

"I'm no expert, but something's on your mind, Mai," Taiki of all people announced as he sat down with the three besties for lunch. Genji wasn't too far behind him.

"Uh oh, did someone get into a fight last night?" Keiko teased as Mai continued to pick at her bento.

"Rough patch?" Genji offered, taking a seat.

"Not a rough patch," Mai shook her head and let out a sigh. "And not so much of a fight, more of a disagreement."

"Let me guess, you have a case and it's cutting into your alone time with Shouta," Michiru took a guess, picking at her food as well.

"Sort of," Mai responded, about to tell them the whole thing, but paused for a moment. What if they backed up Shouta? What if they thought it was a good idea for her to find a new job as well? Time to cover, Mai. "Actually, that's exactly it. How did you know?"

"How did you know?" Genji raised a brow.

"Mai, you practically have three different lives or lifestyles. School, work, and your relationship with Shouta," Michiru explained. "You don't have any connections between them. Like how Keiko's relationship can connect to school, because you both go here. You may have gotten your job because of a case Kazuya had over here, but they're not directly associated with each other. You met Shouta because of a case, but it's not like you are coworkers or were coworkers." She earned odd stares from her friends. She raised a brow herself. "You guys see what I'm saying? She is literally living three different lives that most days have virtually no connection. Because there is no connection can cause the same type of problems as if they were directly connected."

"Why do you know this?" Taiki found himself asking as everyone was jaw dropped.

"Michi actually spends hours just thinking about stuff like this," Keiko shrugged. "She decides she needs to figure out what's wrong with the world and can actually come up with decent reasons, explanations, and solutions."

"Glad you approve, Kei," Michiru commented, taking a bite.

That makes a lot of sense, Mai smiled to herself. It didn't make the argument or the words that were said go away, but it gave an explanation as to why the argument happened the way it did. The conversation had moved on, Mai felt a little better about the situation, but she still continued to pick at her food.

Luckily, none of her friends noticed when the bell rang, that she had thrown out the nearly full bento. She didn't need to worry them that she wasn't hungry that day. She didn't need them to worry about her ever again.

January Day 3, 4:13 P.M.

Late again. She didn't really care. She didn't rush. The day wasn't as cold as it had been lately. The sky above seemed to threaten rain or slush or something not fun at all, but she didn't care. She brought a change of clothes, but forgot to put them on at school because she was running so late. Mai realized she was almost there and knew she would get an earful in a matter of minutes, but as she was about to turn the corner, she heard voices.

"I'm telling you, Naru, there are no spirits here," a very adamant, but familiar voice could be heard as Mai stopped and clung to the corner of the building.

"Our evidence says otherwise," her boss could be heard.

"That is impossible. There are no spirits here." Masako was very firm and was not budging.

"Why don't you come and take another look-"

"There is no point, I know for a fact that there are no spirits here anymore!" she exclaimed. "They all crossed over."

The two were silent for a moment as Mai figured out what just occurred. "You were the medium they hired before." Naru didn't ask, he stated it. There was no question about it.

"This is the setting for my season finale," she explained. "What makes you so sure there is a spirit here?"

"Hey, Masako! Happy New Year!" Mai decided she might as well come out now, before she was yelled at further for being late.

"Happy New Year, Mai," Masako replied, placing her sleeve to her mouth. She turned back to Naru. "If you would like me to do another walkthrough to be sure, I'll do it, but I won't find anything."

"I think the client would appreciate that," Naru agreed, allowing the medium to enter the building first. He followed her up the stairs, grabbing the door behind her and holding it for his assistant.

"It's been that kind of day, huh?" Mai asked, pausing at the door.

Naru just shrugged, Mai did the same and walked in. She quickly made it to one of the changing rooms backstage and had just finished buttoning the blouse she decided to bring, before she heard something outside. She stuffed her uniform back in her bag and ran out.

"Fuyumi, did you know what they were going to do?" Mai heard Hoshiko say. The two girls hadn't seen or heard her, and she had some successful eavesdropping that day, may as well keep it up.

"What are you going on about?" the young director returned, cocking her head to the side.

"They brought that medium back! Like she's going to be able to fix her mess!"

"Star, it's not her mess, she just wasn't able to do what she said she would. And what do you expect? She's a TV star."

"Then why did these guys bring her back? What more can she do other than claim she exorcised some spirit she has no clue is even here!"

"To answer your first question, why don't you ask your priest friend?" the young director countered. "If the medium is legit, then maybe there's another explanation."

"You think someone is sabotaging the play?"

"Or you."

"What?"

"You are our youngest actress. You are very good and will go far."

"But?"

"But, there will be people who just don't like you. For no reason at all. Those are the people you need to watch out for, because they will try to make your life living Hell. In this case, perhaps even try to have you blacklisted."

"You think someone on cast is doing all this?"

"If they are and it's not a ghost, just some awesome special effects, then a ghost hunting team would be the ones to figure it out. Not even the cops could go into it, because so many of us believe it's a ghost."

"I see your plan, but will anyone else?" The young actress cocked her head and crossed her arms in wait of a response.

"Probably not, I'm not even sure if that ghost buster group will see it," the director continued with a shrug. "The president boy, Shibuya-san, he seems about as much of a skeptic that something paranormal is going on here as I am, if anything he might figure it out."

"Okay, but what about Inoue and the rest of the crew? They won't be happy to see her back here," Hoshiko asked.

"We'll deal with that bridge when it comes time to cross," the director decided, pushing a script to the girl.

"What the-I already memorized my lines!"

"Just go over them a little while you're waiting for your cue, you missed a couple last night," the young director smiled and walked away with a pep in her step.

"Fuyumi!" she murmured shaking her head as she walked off as well.

Well, Mai mentally gave herself a pat on the back. She managed to successfully eavesdrop on not just one, but two conversations that day. She continued walking as though nothing occurred in that very spot and looked for her boss. They needed to get somewhere with this case and by now Masako must have finished her walk through-

Buzz. Buzz.

And she forgot to leave her phone in her bag. Oh well, she'll just have to deal with the constant messages from everyone until she can get back to Base.

"It's just like I said before, Naru," a very adamant Masako announced once Mai had found the two, along with Lin at the bottom of the staircase. "I don't sense any spirits here."

"Is it possible that it's one of the cast members trying to sabotage Hoshiko?" Mai offered.

"It could be plausible, but the incident yesterday with the camera was definitely odd," Naru agreed, hands in his pockets. "I suppose someone could have been hiding down there, but someone would have heard the box and camera being moved."

"Well, we are in a theatre, with actors and special effect crews, maybe this is a group effort?" Mai suggested with a shrug. "I'm just throwing it out there, whether there is a spirit here or not something strange is going on."

"At least we agree on that." The young manager nodded, turning to his taller assistant. "Nothing knew since yesterday?"

"The only thing I could find were possible footsteps on the audio, but even that is a bit of a stretch." Lin confirmed.

"Need I say more?" the medium said, hands clasped in front of her.

"What the hell is she doing here?" a very snarky voice broke the air.

Shoot, what was her name again? Mai wondered. "Ichika-san?" That's it.

"She couldn't do anything the first time, why is she back?" the young actress screeched, crossing her arms.

"I called her in," Naru admitted.

"Inoue won't be pleased, what the hell can you do now that you didn't do before?"

"I already cleansed the spirit that resided here. There is nothing else that needs to be done," Masako defended.

"If there is nothing to be done, then why are we still getting attacked?" she challenged, crossing her arms.

"As I recall," Naru interrupted. "You claimed you were a witness to the incident where Hoshiko fell from the stage and a bystander to the aftermath of the light fixture falling. You were never attacked, at least, you never mentioned it before."

"Whatever," Ichika scoffed, shaking her head. "You've lost whatever credibility you had by bringing in this con-artist!"

She stormed off after that outburst. "Well, that seemed to have gone well," a new voice startled the brunette. "Good to see you again, Masako."

John must have crept into the room when Ichika walked in. "Good to see you as well, John. Happy Belated Birthday."

"Thanks!" the priest smiled. He turned back to the group. "So what's our next step?"

"Naru, didn't you want to take Masako to Oiwa's grave?" Mai asked, remembering what he boss had decided the day before.

"I did," he answered, turning to the medium. "That is, if you're up for it."

"You think it's the curse of the play?" Masako raised a brow. Then she just sighed and shrugged. "If it will completely cross out that theory, then let's get it over with."

"We'll go now, before it gets too late," Naru decided, turning back to the priest. "Father Brown, keep your eye on Hoshiko, spirit or not, she is still the target of the activity here."

"Of course," the blonde nodded. Naru then turned to his petite assistant.

"Mai…"

"Yes?"

"Try to stay out of trouble, while we're gone."

Mai felt a sweatdrop appear at the back of her head and she pouted. "Yeah, yeah."

Any breaks in the case?

Mai finally decided to check her phone as she wandered around the theater with nothing to do. No, we are pretty much at a standstill. Masako doesn't sense anything.

Well, not all mediums can be as good as you.

Mai couldn't help but smile a little as she shook her head at the flattery. I'm not a medium. I just have visions.

Whatever. Let me know about tomorrow when you get an idea. I have a surprise for you!

Geez. You know I don't like surprises!

Well, my surprise isn't official yet. It will be tomorrow though! I will see you then!

Shouta! Don't leave me hanging like that!

Well, Shouta obviously wasn't going to respond until further notice. Slightly frustrated, Mai sighed and slipped her phone back into her jean pocket. It was then that she realized she had wandered into the audience of the theater. She really needed to leave her phone in her bag it was distracting her.

On stage, Hoshiko was with Yuito for one of the opening scenes. Where Oiwa and Tamiya are still at least pretending to be on good terms. John and Monk, she could see, were right off stage in the curtains. The older of the two was obviously not enjoying his younger sister's performance. He ended up disappearing backstage while the priest stayed by his post. Mai was surprised that he even watched. After what he said to her and the conversation she had with Hoshiko the day before, Mai was sure he would have gone with Ayako for a walk around or something. Speaking of, where had she gone?

Mai quietly backed out of the auditorium and closed the door behind her as silently as possible. Now that she thought about it, she hadn't seen Yasuhara yet, ad he even arrived? Is that who Ayako was walking around with? Or was she alone like herself?

She stopped as she passed the door to the basement. It had been open when she arrived, right? Did someone close it? She took a step toward the door, her hand extended to open it.

Don't, Mai! A little voice warned. It was like the voice she had heard so many times on cases. Usually her intuition, but it sounded a little off today. That's not a good idea.

A sickening feeling filled the pit of her stomach as she betrayed the voice that had never let her down before. She turned the knob and held her breath as the door opened. A rush of cool air flew by her and-

"Thank goodness for you, Mai!" Ayako exclaimed, stepping out onto the top of the staircase.

"Yeah, we don't know how we got stuck in there, but your timing couldn't have been better!" Yasuhara agreed, stepping out as well.

"Wait, when did you guys even go down there?" Mai asked raising a brow.

"We noticed some interference with the camera down there and went to adjust it," Yasuhara explained.

"But after you and Naru getting stuck in there yesterday, we weren't about to let the other go alone," Ayako continued.

"So you decided to go together?"

"That's right," they said together.

"Without letting the rest of us know?"

"The plan sounded better in our heads," Yasuhara admitted with a sheepish shrug.

"Anyway, we were going to see if we could fix it, and we propped the door so we wouldn't get stuck," Ayako finished. "It got stuck anyway."

"What did you prop it open with?" Mai asked, crossing her arms.

"The chair."

"What chair?" The three investigators looked around. "There wasn't a chair when I walked by."

"I swear there was one when we went down!" Ayako obviously felt like she was going insane as she scanned the room for the chair.

"There was," Yasuhara confirmed. "Do you think someone locked us in on purpose?"

"Well, there's only one way to find out," Mai replied, the two looked at her. She pointed to the camera that was on the other side of the room. "Naru and I made sure the camera here was pointing to the basement door in case someone else got locked in."

"Nice work, Boss!" Yasuhara cheered, patting the girl on the head.

"C'mon, let's see what the camera comes up with."

"Hara-san?" Naru called as the medium approached the gravesite and gave a bow in respect.

The cemetery was closing, but Naru was able to convince the groundskeeper to give them a few minutes. They really only had a few minutes. The sun had already set and it was getting colder by the second.

"I do sense a presence," the medium confirmed, placing her sleeve to her mouth. "A female to be exact, but she's not angry. I can't give her an identity, but if it is Oiwa she can't be responsible for what's going on at the theater. Or the bad luck surrounding the play itself for that matter."

"And why is that?"

"The spirit that I sense is bound to the property," she answered, suppressing a shiver. "There's no way it's responsible."

Naru stood there and collected his thoughts for a moment. Taking the information in he was given and applying it to the information he already had. Is it possible they were dealing with another hoax?

"Let's head back to the theater," he decided, noticing the medium starting to shiver.

Naru must have locked the door to Base before he left, the group decided, seeing as there was a possibility that an actor was involved in the haunting. Ayako and Yasuhara ended up splitting up, Ayako finding Monk and Yasuhara hanging with John while Hoshiko rehearsed. Mai on the other hand was checking out some areas back stage and making sure cameras weren't tampered with.

"So, do you think that one of the actors are trying to sabotage your sister?" Ayako asked.

"You think Naru took on another case that has a person as the culprit of a haunting?" Monk raised a brow, flipping the subject.

"A lot of the cases we've been on have had a human to blame," Ayako returned, crossing her arms. "Now don't go changing the subject."

"I guess we have had a lot of cases with a living culprit, Mai's school, Yuasa, the cemetery, the elementary school, the summer camp haunting was all because of Miyuko-"

"If you are finished babbling, are you going to answer my question?" the priestess cocked her head.

"What was the question?"

Ayako narrowed her eyes in annoyance. "Sabotage?"

"Right," the monk let out a breath crossed his arms. "No, I doubt anyone's trying to sabotage Star."

"And what makes you so sure?"

"Well-"

"Is there anything more productive that you could be doing other than standing around chatting?" an annoyed tone pierced the air. "Have either of you taken any temperature readings?"

"We can't, the thermometer and chart are in Base," Ayako put her hands on her hips as she retorted.

"Then go into Base and get them," Naru responded nonchalantly. "Matsuzaki-san, I expect this type of idiocy from my assistant, but not from you."

"You little-"

"Eh, Naru, what she means is, you locked the door to Base," Monk interrupted. It was bad enough he caused a scene earlier with his sister, the team didn't need a scene within their own crew.

At this, Naru looked confused. Well as confused as one could look with a deadpan face. "I never locked the door, why would I do that?"

The investigators looked at one another, confused as well. "We thought you locked it to make sure no one would mess with the footage," Monk elaborated.

"As much as the idea has crossed my mind, I would have at least told one of you before we left for the cemetery," Naru answered. He turned to Lin. "Find Akiyama-san."

Moments later, the petite director came clicking her way backstage, her curly hair bouncing with each step. "Sometimes these doors get locked on occasion," she explained, pulling out a key. "The right cross-breeze and someone from earlier possibly pushing in the lock without realizing. It doesn't happen often, but it's happened a couple times since we started production."

Soon the door was open and sure enough the room looked untouched. All of the monitors were functioning, upon first glance, nothing seemed to have been tampered with.

"If you'll excuse me, I need to get back to rehearsal," the director excused herself.

"Naru, can you rewind this camera back to about five this afternoon?" Ayako asked, pointing to the camera Mai had showed her earlier.

"What are you looking for?" Monk responded.

"Yasuhara and I got locked in the basement and I want to make sure it wasn't one of the actors or crew, because we had a chair to prop open the door," she explained as Naru played the footage.

They watched as Yasuhara used the chair to prop open the door. They went down the stairs. There were several minutes of stillness. Then the chair seemed to fly across the room and the door shut slowly. Mai came and got them out shortly there after.

"Well, there goes your sabotage theory," Monk admitted, crossing his arms.

"Yeah, that was deliberate," Ayako agreed with a sigh. "And definitely not a person."

"I knew no one would sabotage Star, she may have the lead role, but everyone else here has a decent resume for their acting careers, the lead role of a local play isn't exactly on their top priority," Monk affirmed. Ayako shook her head.

"You have no idea how the acting business works," she scoffed crossing her own arms.

"And you do? Miss Priestess?" Monk challenged, his eyes narrowed. What would probably have been more of a teasing comment become one of offense with just a mater of tone.

"Not exactly, but I will tell you this," she returned, her hands on her hips. "It's not that different from nursing."

"Those are two completely separate professions."

"But by working in both you can end up blacklisted, simply because one person doesn't like you or like what position you have over them," she explained and sighed. "If anything, I don't trust that Ichika girl. If there is any human element here, it's her."

"Ichika? She's barely talked to Star!"

"You really are dense." Ayako shook her head.

"She's my sister, I think I know her better than you."

"But you don't know any of the other cast. You have no idea what you're talking about."

A faint shout could be heard from outside the Base. The group ran out to see the priest and researcher both holding onto a shaking actress. Her eyes were wide and if it weren't for the two boys holding her she surely would have dropped to her knees. In front of them was one of the cameras that Mai had tied to the top of the bridge earlier that week.

"What happened?" came the chorus of responses from actors, crew, and investigators.

"We were walking to the costume room and heard something that sounded like metal and it must have been the camera coming undone and falling," John explained.

"What are you all doing standing around?" Inoue shouted. "Star! Are you okay!"

"Guys! Same drill as before! We need to makes sure someone didn't sneak in!" Fuyumi ordered, pointing at actors and assigning them places to search.

"Star! Star! Look at me!" Monk exclaimed, standing in front of the shaken girl. She looked up at him and let out a shaky breath. "Are you hurt?"

She sucked in another shaky breath and managed to straighten herself. She pulled herself from the two boys who held her up. Balling her fists she let out her breath. "I am fine, thank you for your concern, Nii-san," she replied, walking toward a chair that was by the costume room.

Naru inspected the damage done to his equipment, but something was nagging him. He noticed something off about the camera angles when he was looking at the monitors a moment ago. After what just happened, he assumed that he just noticed this camera coming undone.

"Monk, come on, let's help them find who might have done this," Ayako urged, pulling the man with her. "Yasuhara, you too. John, stay with Hoshiko."

"This wasn't caused by a spirit," Masako claimed, walking up to the black clad investigator. "The camera must not have been secure and fell over the edge."

It hit the young man like a brick. He knew what was off about the cameras.

She removed her shoes and approached the window. She wasn't too sure why she was there, to be honest. Yet she knew she had to be. She opened the latch and pushed the glass open, allowing a gust of freezing air to blow back her hair. She climbed out, the snow being a cold cushion for her feet.

The cold wind of the night flew through her, but she didn't notice. She hadn't felt warm in a long time. It's hard for cold to bother you when your heart is frozen. But soon everyone will see.

There was a small balcony there, one that could not be seen from the ground. She gracefully scaled it, making her way towards the railing. She climbed up and continued to climb up the small platform that a gargoyle could have stood to keep watch. Whatever might have been there before was long gone and just as well. There wasn't enough room for the two of them on his stage.

She looked down to the bustling streets of the city. What a perfect audience, she marveled. No one could take her stage from her now. Everything was perfect! This would be her best performance yet!

What a marvelous setting! Everything looked so beautiful! She even saw someone look up at her. Whoever her fan was, was waving his arms, trying to get her attention. She waved back and blew a kiss. Oh how she adored her fans.

Now, everyone would see what she could do! No one would talk ill of her anymore! No! They would just stand in awe of her abilities! No one could stop her now!

She had been talked of so badly before. She wanted it to end! Now she had the chance! The chance to silence all of those evil thoughts!

With a smile she turned around and held her arms up. Everything was ready. The curtain was about to be raised. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, letting all of those first performance butterflies out.

"Showtime…" she told herself.

With another breath she felt herself falling back…

Dun dun DUN! I am starting to get back into the swing of things! Now a response to all of your wonderful reviews!

Is your heart in the game-I'm glad you're interested in this case! And I apologize for any inaccuracies with how theaters are set up, I've been researching terms (I have taken a couple of theater classes and used to remember them but I have forgotten lol) but if there's anything that isn't correct feel free to let me know and I'll have it fixed! I'm glad you approve of the development of relationships going on here. There's a lot of characters and different relationships to form and grow and I'm doing my best! SO thank you!

TheUnquietDead-Shouta certainly has a way of making sense but going just a little too far, doesn't he? Don't worry though, things will come full circle soon. Justice will be served, but will it be too late?

SSTranS-Your reviews always make me smile! Don't worry, everything is all planned out. It's just a matter of when everything will happen. Mai is being very dense and so is Naru, but at the same time they were always very stubborn characters. Just one was far more stoic than the other. Again, justice will be served, all in due time, my dear.

Guest- Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Mai and Naru fan-I can't promise when my next update will be but probably the end of next month!

Don't forget to leave a review! Thanks of reading!