I'm alive! I updated! Yay! I'm sorry that it's taking me so long to update. I was stupid and decided I should do accelerated courses this semester and it's biting me in the ass. So you won't see another update until around November unfortunately, but on the bright side the next chapter will wrap up everything and I might have an update for The Haunt continues that I might be able to update in the next couple of weeks to tie you guys over. Anyway enjoy and if you have any predictions for how the team will act after this case let me know in a review!
Chapter 12-Why?
March Day 5, 7:24 P.M.
In Base, Naru walked in to see the rest of his team eagerly awaiting his arrival. He had been expecting to receive a scolding from Lin and some rather accusing questions from Madoka. He didn't expect to see the perplexed expressions worn on every member in the room. Even Lin looked confused.
Almost uncharacteristically so, Naru presented them a similar glance. It was only when he went to the wall of monitors and pulled out his seat that he realized just how dirty his hands were. He couldn't even imagine what his face looked like after wandering a dusty dirty cave and the trails for the last five hours. He definitely wasn't the Naru they all knew and were sometimes fed up with.
So he ignored the odd looks from his peers as he sat down, plugged his phone into a charger, and relaxed for the first time all day. "Before you ask, Mai is fine, she's in our room with Matsuzaki because she wasn't feeling well." He ignored the knowing look that came from Kiko by the table. "What happened while we were gone?"
"I'll get the tea, you're going to need it," Monk said standing up as Kiko and Yasuhara took turns explaining their encounter with Kuroki Hanako. Naru's face remained impassive as the story was told and Monk came back with tea for everyone.
"Not only was Kikuchi's story true, but the Moto couple wanted to prove it," Naru determined once he heard the rest of the tale. He took a slow sip of his tea. And silence hung in the air for a moment, before Madoka became too impatient.
"Are you going to explain why you're covered in dirt?" she finally asked with an exasperated sigh. Naru ignored her and took another sip of tea just as she continued, "Unless Kikuchi-san wasn't lying when she said she saw you and Mai going at it."
She was looking for a spittake. She got a spittake. But not from Naru. No, Monk was choking in his seat on the couch. Yasuhara and Kiko were sputtering at the table. And Lin only shook his head in defeat. Naru simply swallowed his tea and let out a sigh. "Funny, Madoka, because Kikuchi mentioned the same about you and Lin."
Lin simply put his head in his hand, while Madoka felt heat grow on her cheeks. Monk was still coughing while the two college students were trying to contain their laughter.
For the first time on this case, Naru had the upper hand on Madoka. To which, he smirked in satisfaction.
"That confirms everything we know," Ayako said with a sigh as Mai finished telling her what Tomomi had shown. "Kuroki, Hanako paid us a visit, she and her husband owned the resort when Tomomi was kidnapped. They were the first couple from your vision."
Mai nodded as she felt another wave of sorrow pass over her for the girl. She didn't deserve what she was given. "that second couple though..." she said with a breath. "Tomomi wasn't the first girl they took and she wasn't the last."
"Tomomi told you?" The girl in bed just shook her head. "Then who?"
"My guide," Mai answered flatly. "I have a spirit guide that shows me visions of the cases we're on. He told me that the couple did ultimately get in a car accident killing the wife and leaving the husband paralyzed."
"Talk about too little too late," Ayako scoffed.
"That's what I said!"
"Did your guide show you anything else?" Ayako pressed as her face became somber. Mai didn't have to ask to know what she was referring to.
Mai sighed and began explaining what she saw with the Moto couple. She had just mentioned the couple going into the cave and stopped speaking. She earned a look from the priestess. "And? What else happened?"
"I don't know, Naru woke me up," Mai said with a shrug. Ayako shook her head.
"That's because you were freaking out," she said with a huff. "I'm pretty sure we both thought you were having another nightmare-what's wrong with your wrist?"
Mai shifted her gaze to her hands, which were on top of the comforter. She knew the priestess was talking about the bloody bandaid on her wrist, but all the teen could see was how filthy she had become from wandering the caves. She made a face. "Ugh, I think I need a shower. I'm disgusting," she said with a scowl. It reminded the priestess of herself so she let out a chuckle.
"Think you'll be able to stand?" the woman asked. Mai thought about it, she wasn't she could if she were honest.
Her brows knitted together for a moment before she said, "Under the sink. There's a stool, I can sit on that."
Ayako nodded and stepped into the bathroom for a moment. When she came out, she slowly helped Mai sit up and walk into the bathroom. "Keep the door unlocked, if you start to feel woozy, let me know and I'll help you," she said before Mai nodded and closed the door.
The hot water washed her with relief once Mai stepped into the shower. She felt a whoosh of dizziness run through her, so she sat on the stool and continued to scrub off the layers of dirt and grime she had accumulated over the late few hours. She heard the bathroom door open and shut and figured Ayako was just checking on her. Once she was finished her shower she saw her pajamas sitting on the counter.
So that's what you came in for, Mai determined with a smile. She quickly changed and threw her still wet hair up in a towel. When she walked out, the bed was remade and a bowl of soup was sitting on the dresser. Ayako must have called housekeeping.
Ayako helped her to the bed, propping up pillows so the girl could sit up straight to eat her food. The priestess placed the tray on Mai's lap and she began to eat only to realize she was famished. She immediately took another spoonful when Ayako shook her head and sighed. "Did you even eat today?"
"Yeah, I-" she said after swallowing and then thought about it. "Actually, I think I haven't eaten since yesterday…"
"No wonder you passed out." Ayako shook her head again and stood up. "Keep eating, I'll be right back." And she stepped out into the hall without another word.
She pulled out her cell and gave another sigh. "I wonder if everyone updated him yet," she thought aloud as she dialed the number and waited for the connection.
"So there's a tunnel that leads to the caves and it's in the basement?" Yasuhara clarified, finishing his tea and placing the empty cup back on the table. Naru nodded in response.
"See? All the knocking I was doing wasn't irrational," Monk gloated to Madoka who rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I think we can safely assume that the spirit leaving the messages that said 'pretty' was Tomomi and since we solved what happened to her I think she'll move on quickly."
"But was she responsible for the more threatening messages?" Kiko asked, folding her arms. "I mean, we still have the spirits of the Moto couple to worry about since Mizushima-san did witness them specifically."
"Which brings the question, which spirit wrote on Naru and Mai's wall?" Madoka asked, leaning back in her seat.
"Excuse me?" Naru asked, snapping his head toward the woman.
"Did I forget to mention that?" the woman asked with a not guilty grin. Oops.
"Madoka-"
"While we were interviewing the maids one of them mentioned another room with a blood written message," Lin explained quickly as he typed on his laptop before turning it around. Everyone took a moment to read the words.
"'Help me or you join them,'" Monk read aloud. "'Pretty.'" He leaned back and folded his arms with a breath. "By the time that message was written, the body had already been uncovered from the lake. So maybe she won't go down as easily as I thought."
"If this is Tomomi's words, she's desperate," Kiko added with a sad look. "It's been forty years, and now her story is so close to being told. She could be trying to help uncover what happened to the Motos."
"It could explain why you and Mai were locked in the tunnel," Yasuhara said to Naru with a shrug. "She could have been trying to lead you in the right direction. All we have to do is go back in there, with working flashlights, and we'll probably find out what happened."
Naru glanced at the time on his assistant's computer and then at the faces of his team. "Not tonight," he said finally. "It's too dangerous to search it while it's dark out. If we get trapped we'll have to wander the forest to get back here. We'll search in the morning."
"Okay, well, what do you want us to do tonight? It's only half past eight, we could do another sweep of the property-" Monk suggested but the young boss just shook his head.
"No, we're done for the night," he said firmly. "Go and eat if you haven't yet, get some rest and we'll investigate the tunnel tomorrow with proper equipment." With that he turned to face the monitors, dismissing his team as per usual.
One by one, half of his team shrugged and filed out. "Proper equipment?" Kiko muttered with a furrowed brow and a curious look to Monk and Yasuhara.
"Bet you he means fully charged phones and working flashlights," Monk said clasping his hands behind his head.
"I thought he just didn't want to investigate without his wife," Yasuhara said, earning chuckles from the other two.
Madoka and Lin stayed behind and when the other half of the team could only faintly be heard, the woman turned to the ringleader. "Aren't you going to get some food?" she said, knowing she was nagging, but she didn't remember seeing him have lunch.
Whether Naru was going to answer her or not was never known as his phone began ringing.
I wanna be the very best! Like no one ever was!
"Yasuhara-san!" Naru growled as he grabbed the phone and ceased the horrid ringtone. "How the hell does he do it?" He placed a receiver over his ear. "Moshi moshi?"
"New rule, no one is allowed to investigate on an empty stomach unless it's a dire emergency," Ayako's voice rang in annoyance, attempting to rupture the young man's eardrum.
"She didn't eat?"
"She's eating now, but it's only soup because she still has the fever. I'm not sure which made her pass out earlier, but neither helped." Naru could tell the woman was relaxing against the door in the hallway of their floor. "On the bright side, I didn't have to fill her in on much."
"Why is that?"
"Her visions are back, Tomomi showed her what happened to her when she died forty years ago." Naru perked up, to his knowledge this was the first vision Mai had since the Ishikawa Hotel almost six months before. Though he was pretty sure she's had a few since then. "Unfortunately, we woke her up before she could find out what happened to the Moto couple, but the cave is involved."
"At least we have somewhere to start." He began drumming his fingers on the table in front of him. "We're finished investigating for the night, we'll pick up tomorrow with the tunnel." With that he ended the call and opened the second laptop to sign in.
A hand was placed on his shoulder and he was tempted to ignore it, but turned around anyway. Madoka was standing behind him with a towel and wet washcloth. "Clean yourself up a bit and go eat something. Then go to bed, you're not sleeping in Base tonight."
He closed his eyes and let out a breath in defeat. He took the towels and began scrubbing his hands. "I will be getting some more work done and staying here tonight, Mai still has a fever and could be contagious," he said flatly. Madoka rolled her eyes.
"Newsflash, you carried her on your back for almost two hours. If she's contagious, you've already caught it and if you sleep on that couch you'll regret it in the morning." She put her hands on her hips. "Besides, with how much of a magnet for trouble Mai is, do you really think she should sleep alone?"
She left him with that thought and walked out the door. Naru turned to find that Lin had also taken his leave. Still, he turned back to his laptop and continued whatever work he had originally been planning to do.
Naru didn't get much more than maybe a half hour's worth of work done before he stopped by the dining area and grabbed a small sandwich and headed up to his room. Madoka was an invaluable member to his team, despite her brashness, but he still didn't like it when she was right. Mai really shouldn't be left alone, what if she started sleepwalking to the lake or the forest?
It was best if he stayed in the room with her. At least, that's what he told himself as he found Ayako stepping out of his and Mai's shared room. She gave him a curious look. "I wasn't sure you would stop working tonight, so I was going to get some clothes for myself and stay with her," she explained.
"It's been a long day, we'll continue in the morning. Good night, Ayako," he said as he used his room key to open the door and left the priestess staring at him. She wasn't quite sure why he sounded so odd but shook her head and walked back to her room.
Naru shut the door behind him, only slightly horrified at the slip of his tongue. He must have been exhausted, he had never called the priestess by her first name even though he probably should have by now. He mentally shook it out of his head and saw Mai grinning on their shared bed.
"Don't think I couldn't hear that," she said, looking rather comfortable with all of her pillows.
Naru let out a breath and shook his head. Wordlessly he grabbed some clothes from his bag and headed for the shower. When he came out, Mai was still awake. "How are you feeling?" he asked as he climbed into his side of the bed.
"Only a little woozy," she confessed, pulling the damp cloth from her head. "Thank you, by the way."
"For what?" He had just grabbed his book off of the nightstand.
"Carrying me back, I'm sorry I passed out like that." He watched out of the corner of his eye as she settled further into the pillows, her eyelids drooping.
"You should be, you're heavy," he said, turning to the page he had left off at. He was expecting the girl next to him to blush or argue or even hit him, but instead she smiled.
"Good, you're a jerk." Once again her words came out a little slurred with exhaustion as her eyes shut. Barely a moment had passed and the girl was making subtle snores. Naru unwittingly smirked, she always managed to amuse him somehow.
April Day 6, 6:50 A.M.
This was starting to get a little annoying. The last thing he needed was a sexual harassment charge because his sleeping self decided he needed to cuddle the girl next to him. Still, just as the last few mornings, Naru carefully snaked his arm away from his assistant, who seemed to still be sleeping peacefully.
He looked at the clock on the nightstand. He needed to get started on his day and would check on the girl in a bit, but from what he could tell, her fever had finally broken.
He went to change and headed out the door moments later.
It was only twenty minutes later that Mai opened her eyes. Once again she had slept through the night, and she wasn't quite sure what to do with this new feeling. It was so odd feeling rested and somewhat refreshed despite getting over a fever. She rolled out of bed and stretched.
"I hope I don't make a habit of sleeping twelve hours a night to catch up," she muttered to herself as she headed for the bathroom. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she grabbed her toothbrush. "Otherwise I won't be able to run with Tsubame."
She brushed her teeth and got ready for the day. She knew Naru was going to want to investigate the tunnel they had gone through, and she didn't want to miss it. Maybe if she went in there, she'll be able to see what happened to the Moto couple.
Slipping her charged cell phone into her pocket, she headed out the door until something caught her eye on the nightstand. She walked back to investigate and ended up rolling her eyes and shaking her head. A small black phone was sitting on it, plugged into the charger. She quickly checked it to see that it was charged and slid it in her other pocket.
He can't even be mad at me for forgetting mine yesterday, she thought with a roll of her eyes.
When she made it down to Base it was just Naru and Lin in there. Everyone else must not have been up yet or were having breakfast. Upon hearing her footsteps, Naru turned his head to her. "Feeling better?" he asked.
Mai nodded and approached him, pulling out the device in her pocket. "You left this in our room," she said, but it sounded a little off. She couldn't place why.
She could have sworn she saw Naru smirk as he took his cell phone and placed it in his pocket. "Thank you." That was when she realize why it sounded so odd. She had spoken English and he replied the same!
Well, there was definitely a bit of an English accent there, she thought trying to keep her blush at bay. Now I know what Keiko meant about British accents being seductive. Gah! Stop it, Mai!
"If you're feeling better, the rest of the team is in the dining room. Go have breakfast," he said, still in English. Mai noticed he made sure to speak slowly for her to keep up, not that she wasn't grateful.
"Works for me, I'll see you later, Naru," she said before bobbing off and out of the room. Just in time for Lin to give Naru quite a look.
"How much have you told her?" Lin asked as Madoka walked in. A grin was plastered on her face.
"My plan just might have worked!" she chimed in as Naru continued to listen to some of the audio fluctuations from the third floor.
"Didn't you just have a fever last night? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Monk chided as he set up the camera in the basement. Naru and Lin were working the trapdoor open and getting their flashlights ready.
"Everything looks good, Monk!" Kiko's voice chimed through the walkie-talkie. Monk let go of the camera and Mai crossed her arms.
"My fever broke and I think it was just a twenty-four hour thing," Mai said with a shrug causing the man's brow to rise.
"It's been just over twelve hours."
"I wasn't feeling good the night before." Monk eyed her, but shook his head as he went over to the other two men who were jumping into the tunnel.
"Takigawa, what is Madoka's progress to the caves?" Lin called up. Monk pulled out the walkie-talkie and pressed a button that started up some static. He pressed another button, ceasing the static.
"Hey Kiko, what's everyone's status?" he asked, removing his finger from the button and releasing the static.
"This might come as a shock to everyone," Kiko's voice rang in an amused tone, "but Ayako hates the outdoors."
"You don't say," Monk replied dryly, while a warning tone from the man in charge could be heard. "Kiko…"
"I know, I know." Everyone could hear her chuckling and Mai smiled to herself. "They are hiking up the hill now, it'll take them a while to get there but they'll probably meet you in the middle of the tunnel somewhere."
"We're heading into the tunnel now, we'll probably lose range and probably have no signal from our phones. Keep in touch with Yasuhara and if you don't hear from any of us an hour after you last hear from him, send it the troops."
"Understood!"
"I set one of the chairs to keep the trapdoor open," Lin explained as Mai sat down at the edge of the hole and he held out his arms to catch her. "I'm also leaving one of my Shiki to guard the basement. Nothing paranormal will be closing this door."
Mai pushed herself off of the ledge and Lin caught her as Monk readied himself to jump in. Mai took one of the flashlights that Naru held out for her and she used it to scan the walls. She wasn't sure if it was the added light, but something was different about the tunnel.
"It's seems almost brighter," she said absently.
"We have more flashlights this time, Mai, that's all," Naru replied, handing a light to Monk as they all marched forward into the tunnel.
"I'm not so sure about that," Mai admitted, but followed anyway.
"How much further to the cave?" Ayako groaned as they trekked up a particularly steep hill.
"Well," Yasuhara started, his voice rather chipper and slightly sarcastic as per usual. "Considering we left about twenty minutes ago and how long Mai and Naru were missing yesterday, not to mention none of us have hiked out that far as of yet, I'd say we are nowhere near it."
Ayako stopped and sent a glare at the boy who visibly jumped. "Now, now, no need to be snippy or snarky, both of you," Madoka called back, already at the top of the hill. She wasn't in her usual skirt and blouse, no she wore a pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt and sneakers, perfect for their hike.
Ayako, herself, was regretting wearing her long jeans, it was too humid to hike in them. In fact, it was already getting a little stuffy in her flannel shirt. She was just glad she wore her sneakers.
"Yes ma'am," Yasuhara chimed, pulling his phone from his pocket as Madoka started down the other side of the hill.
"Giving your wife five minute updates, Yasuhara-san?" Madoka cheerfully declared, not even looking back as Ayako sent another glare at the boy.
"And how else is she to be entertained while she sits alone in Base?" he said simply as he grinned and sent another text. He slid the phone back into his pocket and continued forward with the group.
With her hair sticking to the back of her neck, Ayako decided she had had enough. Glad she had a hair tie on her wrist, she threw her hair up into a ponytail and unbuttoned her flannel. She removed it to reveal a black tank top underneath, tying the flannel around her waist by its sleeves.
"That's better," she muttered as she caught up with the other two.
"So, in your vision you saw the Moto couple walk into the cave?" Monk asked as he and Mai followed Lin and Naru down the tunnel.
"Yeah, but I don't think they got all the way down to the trapdoor," she replied, using her light to scan the walls. She noticed Naru was periodically touching the walls as they passed. It was a little odd, but she brushed it aside. "Tomomi and Kikuchi-san definitely did. They found the door in the basement and followed the tunnel all the way down to the cave. That's where Tomomi asked Kikuchi-san to remember her and ask about her."
"And the poor thing did," Monk sighed, shoving his free hand in his pocket. "Forty years later, someone finally believed her."
And that's what didn't sit well with Mai. Just why did Moto Haruna believe Kikuchi-san's story so quickly? Sure, Mai herself believed it, but she also was investigating a haunting and had to look at all leads. Plus she had some powerful instincts of her own.
She absently placed her hand against the wall as she walked, letting it brush along the rough surface, similar to what Naru was doing. As she did that, her breath hitched.
"I bet we can sneak some of the old furniture from that basement and snacks from the kitchen and make this our hideout!"
She snatched her hand from the wall and gave it a curious glance. That was Kikuchi-san's voice when she was younger, she thought to herself. What had Kiko called it? Touch clairvoyance? Yeah, I think Naru's also mentioned it as Psychometry at one point. I wonder…
She had to jog a few paces to keep up with the boys, but she continued to periodically touch the walls as she went. She heard snippets of conversations between Kikuchi and Tomomi and suddenly she understood why Naru had been doing just as she was now. I knew he had PK abilities, but I didn't realize he had psychometry too. Why do I know so little about him?
"This is the end of the road, Kiko," Yasuhara said into his phone as the group reached the cave. "I don't know if I'll come out alive or not-"
"Oh please, stop with the dramatics." He could hear the girl roll her eyes at him. "It's been almost two hours since I last heard from Monk and the others, you should meet them somewhere in there shortly. If I don't hear from you within ninety minutes I'm calling reinforcements."
"Oh? Going to call Mr. Officer to come rescue me? I'm flattered."
"Remind me to beat you."
"Yasuhara! Flirt with her later, we need to get a move on!" Madoka called, already several yards inside the cave.
"Noted, I'll let you know what we've found." He clicked off his phone and slid it in his pocket, before heading into the cave. Ayako eyed him with a mischievous smirk. "What?"
"I knew it," she said smugly as she crossed her arms and followed Madoka.
"Knew what?"
"Oh nothing," she chimed with an extra bounce in her step making her hair swing side to side in her ponytail. "Just that you were jealous the other day."
"I resent that!"
"Will you two stop your squabbling and tell me if you see what I see?" Madoka snapped, shining her light on the wall. There was debris on the ground and he wall itself looked as though it were in rough shape, even for a cave.
"Looks almost like a cave-in," Yasuhara commented, crossing his arms.
Ayako furrowed her brow and looked up and down the wall. "I don't like this," she said, shaking her head. "If the rest of the tunnel is like this, then it could collapse at any minute. It's unlikely that the others have a signal in here so we can't even call them to warn them."
"Exactly what I was thinking," Madoka said with a grim look on her face. "All we can do is keep going and be cautious. Depending on where we meet up with Naru and the others and what they've found we'll figure out which way is the best for us to get out."
The two investigators nodded, with the priestess turning to the researcher. "You might want to call Kiko and give her a quick update while you still have signal. It's looking like this might take longer than we thought."
"Agreed." With that, he dialed.
Mai was as confused as ever, while she walked silently with the group. Every time she touched the walls, she could get a little more detail about Kikuchi and Tomomi as they wandered through the tunnel years before. The problem was, she didn't need that information. She needed to know what happened to the Moto couple. Why was Haruna so concerned with finding Tomomi? What made her believe the story that no one had for decades?
Her wrist began itching, so she scratched it, while still holding onto her flashlight. It made the light bounce a little on the walls, but no one seemed to notice. She knew that she was missing something. They all were. But what?
"It's odd that this tunnel doesn't branch out at all," Monk said absently. "It's like it was made to exit out at the cave as a straight run."
"Maybe not," Lin remarked, not even turning his head. "I noticed when we entered from the basement that the wall that ended it wasn't cleanly dug. It's possible that the tunnel had caved in or that it was filled to help create a foundation for the resort."
"Seeing as cave-ins are still possible regardless of how that end of the tunnel was seal, I recommend we tread carefully," Naru said flatly.
"Ow!" Mai hissed as she scratched a little too hard and her band-aid came off. Her brow furrowed as she stopped in her tracks and pointed her light on her wrist. The boys stopped and gathered around her. "Well this explains a lot," she muttered.
Naru took her hand and examined the now bleeding cut on her wrist. "This is from the other morning." It wasn't a question, he remembered when she woke up with a cut on her wrist and she just slapped a bandage on it and forgot about it.
Of course, they both should have taken a closer look at it sooner. After all, it had the word "Pretty" written in kanji.
Hope you guys enjoyed! Please leave a review with any predictions of what might happen after the case is over and make sure you tell me what Ghost Hunt scene is your favorite. Mine is when Mai yells at Naru in the Bloodstained Labyrinth because he wants Masako to perform a seance. It has so much more meaning when you know who Naru really is.
Thanks for reading! :)