I'm back bitches! Well...sort of. I am writing again just very slowly. There are several reasons why but I won't bore you with them now please enjoy this long overdue chapter!
Chapter 1-An Unusual Case
Sunday Day Before Case, 7:45 A.M.
Needless to say, after that dream, Mai never went back to sleep. It was the first night with such little sleep since she reconnected with her spirit guide, but despite the headache that was growing, she wasn't annoyed. No, dread filled its place. She needed to talk to Naru, but also didn't want to wake him up at such an ungodly hour so she did the next best thing.
She took advantage of having an office key and after showering that morning she headed to Shibuya to await her boss of the same name. There she went through the motions of making tea hoping it would calm her nerves. At the very least it kept her hands busy as her mind wandered back to that dream.
"If you don't go to Saitama and put everything to rest, I will personally make sure you die an even more horrible death than mine!" The young woman reared her arm back only to have it captured by another.
"Takako, beating the crap out of her in the astral plane won't do any good for any of us," a new voice said. Mai peered around the first young woman to see another standing behind her.
She was tall, taller than Ayako in her heels, with green eyes and long brown hair. She wore a cropped leather jacket over a maroon tank top and skinny jeans. Mai couldn't see either of their feet, the tops of their calves faded down to nothing.
Takako, the first girl, ripped her arm out of the other's grasp. "Well how else are we going to get her to fix this mess! She already decided to stay behind in 'safe little Shibuya,'" Takako mocked rolling her eyes before glaring at the high schooler.
"Again, beating the crap out of her isn't going to make her want to help us. Jeez, weren't you into meditation or some shit? Looks like it hasn't worked for your anger issues." The other girl crossed her arms and rolled her eyes as well.
"Oh quit acting like you knew me! I didn't meet you until you were stuck in the same hellhole I was before I died!"
"Yes, and your company was such a comfort during such a horrific hour."
"Momo!"
"Enough!" Momo's voice was harsh as she spit out the word. She may have been more put together than Takako, but that didn't mean she didn't share her feelings of the situation. "More importantly, we have another new friend to join us in our sorrows."
With uncertain footsteps, another girl emerged into the purple glow. She was a bit more on the petite side, about Masako's height with dark brown shoulder length hair and brown eyes. She had a little black dress on that showed quite a bit of leg and over the knee heeled boots. She clutched her arm as she approached the group. Her face emotionless, yet tear stained.
She must have been the one I heard crying, Mai thought to herself.
"These things come in threes as they say," Takako said with a groan, shooting a glare at Mai who was just so confused. "But don't think because of that you'll get out of this. This is only the beginning!"
"Is there any way you can just tell me what is going on?" Mai asked, exhaustion present in her voice. Ironic to be exhausted in a dream, isn't it?
"Wish we could," Momo said with a shrug. "For some reason in the afterlife we may be able to talk for hours without running out of breath, but we can never seem to get to the point."
"Quit talking like you're an ancient spirit, you're not." Takako made a move as to bash her head against a wall that wasn't there.
"Yes, you know all about reincarnation and could tell me exactly how many lives you and I have both lived." Momo shook her head and turned to the new girl who had yet to speak. "Anzu, show her your arm, she needs to know. There is still time to protect the next victim."
Anzu nodded and approached Mai, holding her arm out. The inside of her forearm was bloody and bruised, but there appeared to be some sort of pattern. "Why are you showing me this?"
"Come on! Tell me the girl can't read! If I weren't already dead I'd drink bleach," Takako groaned as Mai tried to make out the cuts on Anzu's arm.
"You can read right? The next victim's name is written clear as day," Momo said raising a brow.
"I don't see it. I don't see it." Mai repeated as she rubbed her eyes and tried again only to see the group of girls start to fade away. "No! Don't go! What do I have to do?"
"We can't tell you that." It was Anzu who spoke and shrugged. "All we know is that you're the only one who can stop this from happening again. Oh and be careful around bars, but that's all I can say."
"Wait!"
And just like that, they were gone.
She dismissed the notion that her seating arrangement might be considered rude for an office, as she curled up on one end of the couch in the living area. She had kicked off her shoes and brought her knees up to her chest, using them to rest the mug of tea in her hands. The clay mug was almost too warm for comfort, but she welcomed the heat. It reminded her that she was awake and firmed her resolve to join the case.
Though Naru and Lin were known to get to the office far earlier that their scheduled business hours, they were uncharacteristically late this morning. Mai wasn't sure if she grateful for the alone time or if it just made her more anxious.
Nine o'clock on the dot, the bell attached to the door chimed. It was now or never.
"Mai? I thought I told you that you had today off," Naru asked as he approached her on the couch.
"You did," she replied, her voice monotone. She took a sip of her tea, hoping it would calm her nerves much like whiskey or sake did for people in movies and shows, maybe be her own form a liquid courage. Don't get distracted, Mai!
"Are you going to explain why you are here?" Naru's tone remained guarded, unsure what to expect the young brunette to say next.
Mai remained curled up in her position on the couch, never taking her eyes off of the mug in her hands that rested on her knees. A wave of déjà vu passed over her as the next few words came out of her mouth. "I changed my mind, I'm going on the case." She mentally shook off the feeling.
"No." Naru's reaction was much more blunt than Ayako's a couple months ago. Not that that really surprised Mai. "We already decided you will be watching the office."
At that Mai straightened up, let her feet fall gracefully to the floor and leaned over to place her mug on the coffee table. "Then I will rephrase it," she began, folding her hands on her lap and turned her gaze to her employer. "I will be going to Saitama."
Naru was undeterred. "You will be watching the office while Lin and I go to Saitama. As we agreed on."
"I can't sit here and let another girl be murdered, Naru!" Mai stood up and tried to look as menacing as possible. Tried being the key word.
"You don't know if a girl will be murdered or if one was already murdered," Naru said with a shake of his head.
"I know there were three already murdered and a fourth one already decided." Mai's fists clenched at her sides, all the feelings she had because of her dream were coming back full force. She didn't want to be emotional, hell she wanted to be as emotionless as possible. She should've picked some of that up from working with Naru for two years, but obviously not.
Lin merely watched the spectacle, leaning against Mai's desk that gave him a good view of the show. Naru held his stare that would make anyone back down, but Mai wasn't as intimidated by it as she used to be. She let out a breath. "They told me I need to go to Saitama."
"Who told you?" Lin quipped from his perch.
Mai whipped her head to look at him, he simply sipped whatever he had filled his to-go mug with. "Momo, Takako, and…and Anzu! Yeah Anzu was the most recent victim. She had the fourth victim's name written on her arm, but I just couldn't see it. They were so mad that I couldn't see it."
"Who was so mad?" Naru asked this time, his gaze morphing from annoyance to intrigue.
"Mainly Takako, but Momo was pretty upset too. Anzu, well, I think she was in shock. She looked like she was just trying to have a fun night out, she had a little black dress and tall boots, pretty heavy makeup from what I remember."
Naru continued to ask questions and Mai's demeanor went from hostile to a more amiable tone. She answered with curiosity in her eyes, wondering just what Naru was going to do with this information. Her unspoken question was answered when Naru pulled out his phone and dialed. "Atsuchi-san? It's Shibuya."
It took some intense focus, but Mai was barely able to make out the officer on the other end of the line. "Shibuya-san, I do hope you aren't going back on our agreement."
"Takako, Momo, and the most recent is Anzu, is that correct?" Several beats of silence followed, allowing Naru to continue. "And Anzu was dressed in a black dress and tall boots when she was last seen." It wasn't a question. It never is a question.
"Where are you getting this information?" Atsuchi's voice held a slight tone of panic as well as some defensiveness.
"We have a slight change of plans, Atsuchi-san," Naru continued, changing the subject. "It looks like Mai will be joining us, all three victims have already gotten into contact with her and are trying to give her a message of some sort."
"A message? What do you mean? Like they want to tell their parents 'goodbye?'"
"We'll have plenty to discuss when you brief us tomorrow." He hung up before the officer could ask anything else. He slid his phone back into his pocket. "Are you sure you want to do this?"
And just like that, all the strength Mai had in her legs gave out and she plopped onto the couch. "Honestly, I have an even worse feeling than when I said I would sit this one out, but I don't think there is a right answer here. Only wrong ones."
"Your safety will be my responsibility, are you willing to follow my instructions? There will be no going rogue or solo investigations for you this time."
"Believe it or not, this is one case I will actively make sure I'm not alone." Naru simply nodded and headed for his office. Mai couldn't help but smirk. "You know, the fact that you are worried about me, almost makes me feel a little better about going to Saitama."
Naru didn't respond as he shut the door to his office. Meanwhile Lin sent a quick text to Madoka, not that Mai noticed.
May Day 1, 11:31 A.M.
Despite changing her mind, Mai's anxiety weighed heavily on her as the SPR van pulled up to the Saitama Police Headquarters. The trip was silent, only instructions from the GPS permeated it. She was squished between the two most antisocial men, and even with the addition of their friendly neighborhood monk in the backseat, not a single word of conversation was discussed.
She had hoped that maybe a spark of determination would ignite in her, she did have three spirits counting on her to solve their murders. They had made it known once again in her dream the night before, not that they really gave her any other clues. Anzu barely said anything in her first dream, her face was in a daze and she only held out the arm that had a name written on it.
"Of course, we get the illiterate psychic to help us!" Takako groaned, bashing her head against an invisible wall in the purple glow.
"Actually, she'd be considered a medium right? Since she can communicate with us with relative ease," Momo replied, crossing her arms. "Again, you're supposed to be the expert here, yet I seem to know more than-"
"I swear to whatever greater being there is, if you finish that sentence, I'll-" Takako raced up to Momo with her fists clenched and ready to go.
"You'll what? We're already dead." Momo let out a huff of air. "Even if there is some greater being, I doubt we'll get to meet them until after we make it through this purgatory. No pressure, Mai."
"Is…is this actually written on your arm? Your physical body, I mean," Mai asked Anzu, paying no mind to the squabbling spirits.
Anzu shook her head. "Not this name," her voice was hoarse and gravely. Her hands shakily went to the hem of her dress and top of her boots. "They did write this though." She removed the cover on her legs and Mai let out a gasp.
She may not have been able to read the name on the girl's forearm, but there was no mistaking the script carved into her thigh.
S.L.U.T
W.H.O.R.E
C.U.N.T.
Takako let out a low whistle, while Momo grimly shook her head. "Don't tell me you can't read that?"
Mai felt the warmth of tears trickle down her cheeks as she covered her mouth. She wasn't sure if she wanted to vomit or beat the son of a bitch that did this to her. Probably both.
Momo glided her way to the young spiritualist, a curious look in her eye. "So I guess you can only read messages that are real."
"You're allowed to be lost, because right now, I'm lost," Takako offered Mai, in a rare gesture of kindness.
"They didn't write the name of the next victim on Anzu's arm, but they did write those vulgar things on her legs, that's what I mean by real." Momo shrugged. "I guess you're on your own from here."
"Why can't we just tell her?" Anzu asked, her voice cracking as she tried to speak louder. "She can hear us just fine."
"We can't do that-"
"Powers of the universe, blah, blah, blah," Takako mocked, moving her hand like a mouth as she spoke. "Before you make a crack about me being an expert, one thing I do know is if you will something hard enough the universe will give in."
"And you make fun of me for sounding like an ancient spirit, but here you are acting like a child trying to make an argument on why you should have dessert before your dinner."
"It's worth a shot right? What's the worst that could happen? Like you said, we're already dead." Takako folded her arms and smirked, daring her to say something.
"Let's try shouting it, if she doesn't hear it, we'll have to give her other clues," Anzu suggested.
"Or just wait until the police get a missing person's report-"
"You weren't reported missing until after you were dead." Momo stared daggers at Takako.
After a moment, Momo let out a breath and rubbed her temples. "I guess we don't have another option. This is not going to help my pounding head." She cast a glance at Takako. "Hey, Wannabe-Witch, can ghosts get headaches?"
"Why you-"
The two girls stopped short as Anzu seemed to shout something. Mai couldn't quite make it out, and the girl's lips seemed to blur making it hard to read them. "Well? Did you hear it?" Anzu clasped her hands together in hope.
"Something 'oo'," Mai said feeling hopeless.
"That's more than I expected," Momo admitted, casting another glance at Takako before taking a big breath.
All three girls began to shout the name of the fourth victim at Mai. They repeated themselves, becoming louder with each repetition, Mai squinted her eyes concentrating on their lips that kept blurring in and out of focus.
Mai blinked herself free from her memory, only to be greeted with the somber hostile aura filling the van. She knew what was on everyone's minds, it wasn't just about the case itself.
This is my fault, Mai exhaled internally, eyeing her boss's profile out of the corner of her eye. He wanted me to stay behind, and from the looks of it, Lin and Monk did too. Still, he could have easily left without me. Since Ayako got her new job, it's not like I could pressure her to bring me to Saitama. I doubt he was going to involve Masako, or Yasuhara unless he absolutely had to, so the only one I could try would be John. And he would be the best one to talk me out of it. Stop it, Mai. What's done is done and there is a reason why you have to be here.
She pursed her lips as Lin pulled into the back lot behind the station, reminding herself that there was a reason why Naru allowed her to change her mind and come along. It also helped that the spirits of the previous victims were willing to give her clues to filter to the police.
I'm missing pieces, but I was able to make out O-RI and A-KU. It might not help much but maybe they'll be able to give me more information now that I'm actually here, Mai determined, mentally firming her resolve to be here.
Atsuchi was at the back entrance waiting for them as they filed out of the van. "Thank you again for coming, I wish the circumstances were better," he greeted with a slight bow.
He showed the group to a small conference room where he introduced another detective by the name of Murama. He was a tall, good-looking man in his late thirties with the hair at his temples just starting to gray. "I wanted to brief you all here before you headed to the bar, there is quite a bit to go through. Murama, if you would."
Everyone took their seats, SPR on one side of the table and the detectives on the other. Murama opened the manila folder and pulled out a picture of a young girl with golden brown eyes and black hair in an asymmetrical bob.
"Adachi Takako, twenty-three, was reported missing nearly four weeks ago. Almost two weeks after her last sighting, she was killed and found three days later beaten and…" Murama held a hesitant glance at the teenaged girl at the table. "Assaulted…"
"So, she was raped," Mai said, reaching over and pulling the photograph closer for her to see. Yup, this is the girl that bitch slapped me the other night…
"Continue," Naru beckoned, with a side-glance at the brunette next to him.
"The day after her body was found, victim number two was reported missing. Kagawa Momo was twenty-two when she went missing." Another picture was pulled out, this girl had brown hair and dark green eyes. "She was also killed and found a little over a week later. In much the same condition as Adachi-san. The girl turned twenty-three during her captivity."
Mai passed the first picture to Monk and pulled the next one closer to her. These poor girls…I feel bad for them, but why are they so convinced that I have to help them? Takako said it was my fault, that I'm the reason they died. What the hell does that even mean?
"Our third and most recent victim, Chinen Anzu, was reported missing the day before Kagawa-san's body was discovered. Because we hadn't found the second body yet, we didn't consider her a new victim at first." He pulled out the final picture from the file. A girl with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes and a round face smiled back at the paranormal investigators. "All three bodies were found at different spots on the riverbank that flows through the city. They were also all last seen around eight in the evening at The Blue Room, a small dive bar on the west side of town. All of the workers have solid alibis and from the receipts we gathered no repeat customers that coincide with the nights of the disappearances."
"This leads us to believe that our culprit is someone staking out the bar from the outside. All three girls were alone making them prime targets," Atsuchi said. "We believe we are looking for a man around twenty-five to thirty-five of average height and build. He may seem charismatic upon first glance, but his controlling nature will combine with his manipulative intent forcing these girls to fall in line to avoid violence. An unfortunate irony."
"Atsuchi-san?" Mai interrupted, holding her hand up slightly. The officer nodded for her to continue. "I was under the impression that you hired us to investigate the paranormal, not to find a serial killer. With all the information, I'm definitely not qualified to help you out here."
"My assistant is correct," Naru added, tapping his finger on the table impatiently. "While the additional intel is appreciated and we will assist as much as possible, we need the information on our 'official' reason for being here."
Murama busted out laughing, hearty and full of amusement. "I see why you like these guys, Atsuchi. Young and innocent looking enough to be completely underestimated, but I have a feeling they'll get the job done."
"Ever since the disappearances began, ghostly sightings of the victims have been spotted," Atuschi explained, opening another file and pulling out another photograph. "Specifically at The Blue Room. This is just a still, when you talk to Goji, the bar owner, you can get the full footage."
Naru recognized the photograph from his encounter with Atsuchi a couple days before, so he pushed it to Mai for her to get a look. She's in rough shape, I guess this was how she looked when she died, Mai thought, her fingers lightly touching the area where the bottom half of the apparition's legs should have been. She looks just as pissed off as when she was in my dream.
"Our intention is to filter information to you guys and for you to do the same. Under the guise that you're psychics who were given signs from beyond the grave," Murama said. "Only a select few of us are aware of your involvement with our case, we wish to keep that way. At least for the time being."
"Right…" Monk said slowly, his eyebrow rising. "So you expect us to talk to Takako's spirit and find out who killed her so that you can arrest him. And you expect us to get all the info you need from the bar these girls were last seen alive at?"
"Atsuchi-san and I will continue to be in close communication," Naru said before the officers could respond. "If we need to visit a site or interview a witness, he has graciously offered to help with the arrangements. Isn't that correct, Atsuchi-san?"
It was Murama's turn to raise a brow. "Within reason, of course."
"Well, you seem to have this under control, Atsuchi-kun, I need to speak to forensics," Murama said as he stood up and headed for the door. "It was nice meeting you."
He closed the door behind him and Atsuchi turned his attention to the youngest in the room. "Shibuya mentioned that the spirits of the victims have reached out to you, mind telling me about that?"
Mai briefly explained her recent dreams, described the victims and what they were wearing. She even mentioned the carvings in Anzu's arm and leg. Atsuchi listened with his hands folded on the table, nodding as she spoke. He grabbed his pen and jotted down a few notes. "They tried to tell me the name of the next victim, but it was hard to make out," Mai explained, biting her lip.
"What do you mean it was hard to make out?"
"First they had it written on Anzu's arm," she said, holding out her own to show where the words were written. "But it was blurred and fuzzy and I couldn't make out the characters."
"But you were able to read the carvings." Another note was jotted down as Mai nodded.
"Yeah, probably because they were on her physical body and the name of the next victim wasn't. At least, that's what they concluded when I brought it up. So they decided to try shouting it at me."
"What were you able to hear?" Naru asked, breaking his silence.
Mai shrugged. "Not much, a syllable here and there, they shouted it at me several times before I woke up. I never got the full name."
"What did you get? At the very least it will help your credibility with the other officers involved in this part of the investigation," Atsuchi asked.
"O-RI and A-KU. O-RI for the last name and A-KU was part of the first name." Atsuchi continued to scribble down something, while Mai suddenly felt very small. "I'm sorry I don't have any more for you. It'll sound stupid but there's something that blocks spirits from being able to tell you things directly, they have to give clues and allude to things instead. It gets frustrating."
Atsuchi put his pen down and gave her a soft smile. "I'm not expecting to get all of the answers. I just want some extra clues that we might have missed. Thank you for agreeing to help," he said, earning a light smile back from the teen. He turned his attention to the leader of the group. "You have the address to the bar, right? Do you need an escort?"
"We'll manage," Naru decided, earning a nod from the detective.
Setting up Base took virtually no time at all for the four members present. The bar itself wasn't very large and because they would still be running normal hours, they really couldn't set up too much equipment. The owner lived in the apartment above the bar, which was where they had set up their base. Naru had interviewed the owner who promised to get him a copy of the security footage of Adachi Takako's spirit. Now Mai was wandering around the empty bar before they opened explaining why she was a last minute addition to the case.
"I know you don't like it, I don't like it either. I promised Naru I would stay on the ghost hunting side of the investigation and just filter through him any dreams or visions I have. Hell, Naru and I can't even drink so I'm most likely going to be under his supervision during bar hours. So the likelihood that I'll be in danger is-"
"Whoa there, girlie," Monk said placing both hands on her shoulders. "It sounds like you're doing an awful lot to justify your decision to yourself. I know Naru wouldn't have let you come on this case if you hadn't made a compelling argument. And judging by the fact that Takako contacted you in your dream, I'd say you made an argument that he couldn't counter."
"I just can't tell if I made the right decision, I felt bad staying behind but now I feel even worse being here. It's like the college all over again," Mai groaned, climbing on a bar stool and settling her head in her arms on the bar.
"Two completely different scenarios," Monk said, sliding behind the bar. "What'll it be, girlie?"
"Did you already forget I'm only seventeen?" The high schooler peeked an eye over her arm.
"Please, how little faith you have in me." Mai fought the urge to roll her eyes as she watched the monk grab a shaker and a shot glass, while looking for what he could use. "Fine, I'll just wing it."
Mai watched as he seemed to add a little of everything into the shaker, wondering offhandedly whether or not it would taste good. "Our case is relatively small in scale compared to what we've dealt with in the past. Considering you will be more involved with the paranormal aspect rather than the criminal investigation, the level of danger is significantly smaller than the college case. On both sides of the coin."
"Both sides?"
"When we had the case back in February you really had no good choice to pick from. Stay in Tokyo and possibly run into a certain bastard who should be rotting in a hole, or join the case and deal with a homicidal spirit assaulting women." Because the bar wasn't going to open for another hour the fruit garnishes were not out and ready, so Monk settled with a mini umbrella that had been missed in the cleaning the evening before. "This time around, it seems like the worst you're going to face either way is Takako harassing you in your sleep. If you can get her to help you with leading the police to the killer, it might be worth it to come along. Now taste."
He presented the girl with beautiful vibrant orange drink with a lavender umbrella hanging off of the side. "What is it?"
"Geez, don't look at it like it's toxic sludge. It's a Cinderella Mocktail, no alcohol whatsoever. Now try it."
Skeptical, Mai lifted the drink to her lips and took a taste. "Wow! That's really good!"
"Trying to get the old man's liquor license revoked?" The new voice echoed in the empty bar.
"You can check, aside from juice I only touched the grenadine," Monk said with a sheepish shrug. "Sorry for treading on your turf, I figured one drink wouldn't hurt."
"Nah, I'm just messin'." It was a young man, who Mai assumed was one of the bartenders. He was tall and lean, with his hair gelled up in spikes all over his head. He slid behind the bar and started prepping for the day. "So you guys are the ghost hunters, right?"
"That's right, I guess you're the bar manager?" Monk made his way to the other side of the counter, next to Mai.
"Pfft, like this place is big enough and busy enough for that. I'm just the opener, you can call me Asahi."
"I'm Takigawa Houshou and this is Taniyama Mai."
"Nice to meet ya, so you guy want me to tell you about the demonic possessions that happen on a daily basis or would you like to witness it for yourself?"
Mai rolled her eyes at that, causing the bartender to laugh.
"I'm also pretty full of it, so don't mind me."
"I don't know much about demonic possessions," Monk said with a smirk, making Mai roll her eyes again at the lie. "But I'm sure you know about those girls who went missing after having a couple drinks here."
"Yeah, somehow the media hasn't blown up about it, but to be honest everyone knows about it. The minute detectives were here interviewing Goji-san the rumor mill ran wild."
"Why hasn't the media reported on it?" Mai asked, still having never gotten a straight answer about it.
"Beats me, personally I think the police chief and the mayor are buying them off to lull the city into a false sense of security. You know, encouraging them to report on petty crimes so they don't cause a mass panic. All it's doing is causing people to not trust them and in turn us, considering three girls have gone missing after visiting this bar. But that hasn't stopped people from coming in. Morbid curiosity I guess."
"What makes you say that?" Mai took another sip of her drink.
"Especially since the disappearances, I've learned there are three types of people, and two of those types are the ones who are crazy enough to come in during this situation."
"Alright, let's hear it," Monk said with a shrug, settling down in the seat next to Mai.
"Those obsessed with ghost stories, and those who are obsessed with serial killers. That's the only explanation why there are so many chicks who still come in here."
"Let me guess, you're the third type," Mai said crossing her arms.
"That's right, the type to monetize on the interests of the other two. You guys probably fall under both that category and the ghost story people."
"That's one way to put it." It was Monk's turn to roll his eyes. "On a more serious note, did you see the girls who disappeared?"
"You mean we weren't being serious before?" Asahi shrugged before continuing, "Like I said I'm a bit full of it, but I'll tell you what I told the cops. I served the first two girls, a black haired loudmouth and a quieter brunette. Nothing was really that noteworthy about them, they both paid their bill and left before the crowd came. I wasn't working the night the most recent girl went missing though. I was here when customers started saying they saw the first girl standing by the doorway."
"What did you think of the security footage?" Mai asked.
"Eh, a little weird, but not totally unexplainable. I think it was just a girl who wanted to live out an actual crime and create their own ghost story. The lighting isn't the greatest in that spot and the bottom of her legs were probably just covered in a shadow. Sorry to burst your bubble, but probably not paranormal."
Atsuchi was still questioning the latest victim's family, while Mai and the others headed to the family of Adachi Takako. The group took an elevator to the fifth floor of the apartment complex where they were to meet the family. Naru had stated that the apartment had been rented by Takako herself, and was overall rather average. Average neighborhood, average size, average upkeep of the grounds, Mai couldn't help but think that comparatively, Takako's setup was better than her own.
Probably costs more too, she thought to herself as Monk knocked on the door. Maybe not as much as I think. After my raise I could probably afford a place like this, maybe not in Tokyo, but who knows.
A woman opened the door. She had dark wavy hair and despite the swelling and redness around her eyes, they were the same color as Takako. This must be her mother.
"We're not interested in whatever you are selling," the woman said, her voice rough.
"Ma'am, we are from Shibuya Psychic Research. We are not trying to sell you anything," Naru explained calmly, "We understand that there have been sightings of your deceased daughter-"
"How did you find her address? The news reported it as a simple mugging and didn't even reveal her name. Go bother someone else!" The door was about to slam when a familiar voice came from behind the woman.
"Naru? Mai? What are you doing here?"
I promise not to leave you hanging for 2 years this time. Only one. :) Jk This case is one that I have had in mind almost since the beginning of this fic. Probably around Kumbaya was when I had the idea. As you all know ten years have passed since the conception of this idea and a lot of things have changed so I was trying to figure out how to flesh this out in a believable way while also figuring out how dark things will get.
I've rewritten this chapter easily a dozen times and actually have varying versions of the next couple of chapters depending on how the themes go as I flesh them out more. My initial idea has some very dark scenes and after finally having Mai and the rest of the team enter their healing stage from the last year, I'm hesitant to cause them much more turmoil than I already have. That being said, I am writing that original take on this case and I may post it as a separate fic as an alternate ending of some sort.
While I now am not sure I want to go as dark as my initial plan, that doesn't mean this case will be half assed. Not my style lol, if that means it will take longer for me to write it, I just ask that you once again please be patient with me.
Side note, I am now on multiple social medias and have uploaded Dangerous Souls to both Wattpad and AO3 so please show them a little love as I have spent some time editing them. As for social media you can find me on nearly everything as Kikifan21, or if you go to my insta you will see a link to my linktree. I try to be active but honestly I never know what to post and have a bit of stage fright as now a lot of people who know me personally know about this and follow me too.
As long winded as this update was I hope to have the next chapter up before the new year. I hope you enjoyed and if you stuck around this far, please know I deeply appreciate it. :)