And now, back to your regularly scheduled mystery/horror genre. Maybe. No promises. And it is immensely frustrating that the traffic graph is broken. Feedback is sparse in these parts nowadays, I suppose.
The team shares a night together, and in the morning, they discover several facts about the background of their case, as well as whether or not Naru's deal has been upheld.
.o0o.
Returning to Naru's apartment, all six of them: Mai, Naru, John, Masako, Ayako, and Takigawa—that was a trip. Since Takigawa was the only one who brought his car, and Lin's car was in the wind, they had to take the van. Monk asked if he could be allowed to drop off his car at his place, but then Naru gave him a sticker for the parking lot.
So he left his car, and the team took the van. The van parked in Lin's spot, and the entire group of six followed Naru up to his condo. Once they were on the right floor, Naru suddenly held his hand up. The group stopped. Several craned their necks to see what was happening. Naru crept forward, and all eyes fell on the front door that was ajar. Someone had been in his home.
Naru was about to reach for the door when Monk shoved his way to the front. With a gentle push, Monk moved the boy away.
"Lin would have my hide if I let anything happen to you," he said.
"Careful," Naru said.
Takigawa held up his hand for quiet. With him in the lead, they crept into Naru's condo. The door revealed the living room, with the two nearest doors leading to the two bedrooms in the home. Two hallways to the right and left led to places unknown to everyone except Naru.
Takigawa made a quick gesture with his hand. It took a few seconds for anyone to figure out what he meant. Naru rolled his eyes. He pushed back to the lead so that he could see inside his own damn home. His eyes went to the table. Just as he feared, the Weiguó's writing from the séance was gone. He clenched his fists.
"I should have hidden it," he muttered. "I should have put it away."
"Put what away?" Takigawa asked.
"The writing from the séance," said Masako. "Weiguó's writing was our proof that there was human experimentation. And without Lin, we can't ask him again."
Takigawa turned to Mai. "How's Weiguó doing, anyway?"
Mai straightened as all eyes in the room turned to her.
"He's still there, but he's still just as faint," Masako reported. "He can probably see and hear everything going on, but I don't know if he has enough energy to process it."
"We had difficulty making him cooperate," Naru said. "But Lin was able to talk him into it, somehow."
"When Lin spoke, Weiguó's anger was calmed," said Masako.
"We don't know what he said, do we?" Ayako asked.
Mai put a finger to her chin, remembering the garden scene that Weiguó had her draw. "Maybe it was a shared memory? After all, aren't Weiguó and Koujo both Lins?"
To this, John, Ayako, and Takigawa whirled to face her and Naru, questions falling from their mouths. Naru ignored the, "Lin and Weiguó are related!?" "When were you going to tell us?" and "This was Lin's family!?" being hurled his way. He held up a hand for silence—something he was having to do more and more, it seemed.
When the room quieted, he spoke. "In all honesty, it slipped my mind."
Takigawa and Ayako's expressions turned to disbelief.
"I could see how that would happen," John said. "There's so much going on right now."
"But the fact that Lin and the spirit are related seems extremely important," Takigawa said. "Especially considering everything that's happened now."
Naru sighed. "It was a stupid oversight. Just add it to the growing pile." He waved his hand.
Takigawa seemed to realize that this revelation was having an effect on the boss. "Are you okay, Naru?"
Naru began to nod. And then he hesitated. "No. I'm so sick with worry that I can hardly hear myself think. I tried to keep us out of all of this by taking your case instead of theirs—" He motioned to Ayako, "—but they ended up being related anyway!"
Ayako blinked. "What do you mean?"
Naru looked at her. There was no hiding away from this truth. "You came in on the same day that those two did." Nobody needed clarification who those two were. "I turned them down. You asked for help. I took your case so that—"
"So that you looked as unavailable as possible," Ayako concluded. Naru nodded. The redhead shifted, not breaking her stare at him. "Part of me wants to be angry. I just can't muster it. Not when the situation is so dire."
Naru's eyes flicked up to her. Then he nodded, looking down. He recognized the hidden message. Ayako wasn't mad, but she didn't forgive him. This was just on pause until they resolved the more dire situation at hand. John walked up behind Ayako and put a hand on her arm. She looked down at him. Seeing the concern in his eyes, she gave him a solemn nod. She took in a breath and clapped her hands.
"All right. What are we talking for dinner? Hot pot?"
Takigawa made his way over to Naru's kitchen. He pulled open drawers and the fridge. "Noodles, veggies, broth… Looks like we got enough for a pot. A vegetarian pot."
Ayako scoffed. "Vegetarian?"
"Aren't both Naru and Lin vegetarians?"
While Ayako and Takigawa got acquainted with Naru's larder (really Lin's larder, when they thought about it), Mai, Masako, and John crowded around Naru to help ease his anxiety.
"What can we do to help you?" John asked.
Naru sat down. "Like I said, there's nothing we can do until tomorrow."
"Not entirely true," Masako said, joining him on the small couch. "We can start planning for tomorrow. Divide us into teams, or at least give us roles. Plan on what we load into the van."
"Duct tape!" Monk shouted from the kitchen.
"Maps?" suggested Mai.
"What about teams? You mentioned teams," John said. "What is it we need to do?"
"Our clients want us to get rid of the spirits in the woods," Naru said.
"In the trees, you mean," said Ayako.
Naru closed his eyes, bowing his head as he thought. "I've never heard of discarding spirits by cramming them into trees. Punishing spirits, yes, but not actively trying to get rid of them."
"Do you think the exorcism would be different from any others?" John asked.
Naru didn't respond. He turned to Ayako. "What is the normal process pertaining to tree spirits?"
Ayako handed Monk her spoon, muttering, "Stir that," before coming out of the kitchen. "Normally, they dissipate through the ground. Call me crazy—" (as if anyone would dare) "But I don't think the tree stuffing was intentional by whoever did this."
"Why do you say that?" Naru asked.
"Well, the more I think about it, the more what Houshou said makes sense."
"What did I say?" came Monk's voice from the kitchen.
"You said it was like a cadaver room. A morgue. Bodies stuffed inside cells because there was nowhere else to put them. Like an overstuffed closet, or a rug that you brush everything under because you have no other way of getting rid of it. Single spirits are usually shoved in single trees as punishment. This just felt like spirits were crammed into every last nook and cranny, like over stuffing a closet."
Naru put a finger to his chin and nodded. "So what about exorcisms? Do you think they'll work?"
"I don't see why they wouldn't respond to our rituals," John said.
Ayako clicked her tongue. "I don't know. Something just feels different this time around. Like… it's like there's a clog that we just haven't found."
"So what I'm hearing is that we'll have to wait until we're on site to see," Naru said.
The rest of the team nodded.
The smell of hot soup wafted from the kitchen, causing a few stomachs to growl around the room.
"All right. That's quite enough work talk," Ayako said, clapping her hands together. "Clear the table, and we'll bring over the pot."
"Sounds good!" Mai began clearing away coasters and pens. Truth be told, there wasn't much to clear away.
"John, Masako, don't just sit there. Come get some bowls and silverware!" Ayako called, joining Monk back in the kitchen. John and Masako followed her.
The rest of the night passed without incident. Dinner was had and then cleaned, and everyone figured out where they were going to sleep. Out of respect for the one man not present, they all agreed that Naru should take Lin's room, while Mai and Ayako shared Naru's room.
Masako, John, and Monk were left to the living room. Monk stretched out on the floor, and John let Masako take the couch. It was more than likely that at least some of them were regretting their sleepover plans, or lack thereof. Whatever. They could always snooze on the drive over.
Mai should have expected that she'd dream. That Weiguó would take the wheel. She kicked herself for her lack of planning.
Mai stood atop a mountain of bodies. The bodies were not stacked in a pile, or tossed in a mass grave. No, they were tessellated next to each other, forming the very ground that Mai stood on. Their arms reached upward, fingers splaying and fragmenting like tree branches. Mai realized that this was the metaphorical woods.
A cloud of putrid stench rose up from one of the mouths of the floor ghouls. Mai looked down at the offending ghoul. It hardly had a distinctive face, with arms tucked in like a corpse buried alive.
"Weiguó?" Mai tried.
The corpse did not move. Mai bent down and extended her hand. At that, the rotting body shifted slightly, pulling its hand away from hers. Was it afraid?
"Come on. You and I have been sharing me for the past several days. You have to know you're dead, and you have to know I don't want to hurt you."
The body couldn't move any farther. Mai was able to take the rotting hand in hers. She suppressed her disgust at touching a slimy, rotten corpse, and instead she pulled, as though helping a fallen friend to his feet. But Weiguó was stubborn, not moving from the sea of bodies. Mai furrowed her brow. Even if she got him un-stuck, she'd still have to try to talk to him without knowing his language. Then again, wasn't it the case that the water naiad only spoke Greek? An idea crept into Mai's mind.
She took in a breath. She would have preferred clean air, but she took what she could get. She visualized her spirit body separating from her dream self, leaving the dream world for the spirit world. Hand still touching Weiguó's, she inevitably took him with her.
The world tilted, turning upside down. The forest of bodies became a forest of light and dark, with spirit orbs floating in the void. The hand she held as she guided the spirit into the spirit world had transformed. It was no longer an angry red, exposed mess of sinew. Now, it was a solid white silhouette with gouges tearing away at the gentle outline. The spirit bared some resemblance to Lin, with an angular jaw, narrow and stoic eyes, and straight hair that dangled around his head. The spirit had a deep cut running down its front, from its collarbone to the middle of its abdomen, reminiscent of Mai's first dream. The most unsettling thing was that the right side of the spirit's face had been torn away, leaving just void in its place. Several strands of hair waved in front of this wound, but the spirit clearly didn't intend to wear its hair like that.
The two spirit bodies stood across from each other. Mai regarded Weiguó with apprehension; Weiguó's remaining eye held a prickly challenge. As the spirit shifted, steam rose from the wounds dappled all over its body. Wounds did not bleed in the spirit world. Escaping life force was represented by steam. It was possible to lose too much of it, but there was no such thing as a vital area. Case in point, half of Weiguó's head was blown off, and yet here he was.
"Do you hate me?" asked Mai, to her own surprise. Of all the things she could have asked the spirit, she realized that she had to resolve this matter before anything else.
"Yes," replied Weiguó. His voice was smooth and even, like Lin's, but higher pitched.
"Because I'm Japanese," Mai said.
"Yes," replied Weiguó.
This conversation felt all too familiar. "That's not fair. I know that Japan did horrible things to China. I know that, and it was wrong! I can't help being what I am; none of us can!"
Weiguó didn't respond, but his eyes were still just as hateful. Mai realized that his situation and Lin's were different. Lin was a descendant; Weiguó was a victim.
"I want to help you get the justice you deserve," Mai said. "But I need you to tell me what's been done to you."
"Already did," Weiguó said. At once, images assaulted Mai's head. Memories of her dreams—Lin being experimented on by doctors, soldiers; hurt by guards, burned, brutalized in every which way—
"Stop!" Mai shrieked. Mercifully, the images did stop. "Why? Why did this happen to you? What was this place?"
Weiguó's lips curled into a snarl. "Ignorant!" he crowed, voice rattling through the trees. Mai clasped her hands over her ears. Why was the spirit berating her for not knowing? Of course she didn't know! …Of course neither of them knew. Why would any of the torturers explain to Weiguó what was happening to him?
Mai uncapped her ears. "I understand. I'll find out. That's my job. That's all our jobs. I promise to you, Weiguó, we will find out why this happened to you."
The spirit thrust out a finger toward Mai, steam rising from his arm as he pointed directly at her. "Find out." His eyes were still brimming with hate, but at the very least, they were on speaking terms. Weiguó was willing to give Mai a chance. Even if the spirit had no other choice, he was choosing to accept the terms, even begrudgingly. Mai could prove they were good people. She could prove to this broken spirit that the people of Japan were good… That she was… one of the… good ones.
One of the good ones. A dreaded, condescending platitude that plagued the oppressed. Mai closed her eyes and shook her head. She wouldn't lower herself like that. She would do this for Weiguó because she knew herself that she was a good person. She would right this wrong because it was the right thing to do. She wouldn't do it to win the approval of someone shielding himself with anger, justified though it might have been. It wasn't worth it to herself to spend the energy. If ever Weiguó Lin was ready to meet her eyes, to see her as a true and flawed human being, then she would meet him there. Until then, this was her mission, done for her true found family of the SPR.
Mai awoke to daylight coming in through the windows. Ayako was sitting nearby, packing up a backpack for herself. She glanced over when she noticed that Mai was awake. She must have picked up on Mai's determined stare, as she turned and gave Mai her full attention. Mai gave her a nod. She nodded back. They might not have known exactly what they were nodding to, but the resolve was palpable. Today was the day, and they were determined to get this right.
It was leftover hot pot for breakfast, and then the team rode back to the office. Takigawa's car was still there; nothing had happened to it. With the help of all six teammates, they loaded the van full of the normal equipment. Naru would drive, and Ayako would act as the licensed teacher, should they get pulled over by some curious law enforcement. Takigawa volunteered to carry more stuff in his car, which was appreciated. They made sure to pack spare batteries, tarps, extra ropes, cables, and snacks.
Masako brought up what they would do if they needed to cut into a tree or cut one down. That aided Takigawa in remembering his last woodland adventure, and he brought up the need for a shovel. In the end, they already had an early start, so a trip to the hardware store was a quick, unplanned yet welcome detour. Once they left the hardware store, they were one shovel, crowbar, fire axe, bolt cutter, and pickaxe richer.
The group then began the half-hour journey from downtown Tokyo to Eastern Village. To add insult to injury, the address specified had a route that passed the local police station. Mai bristled when she saw the complex in real life. Ayako, meanwhile, noted that she could see one of the taller buildings of her hospital campus, looming over them from the opposite direction.
Naru pulled up to an innocent-looking house. It was single story, just big enough to have the barest essentials for living quarters. There was even a small lawn out front, and a wooden fence separating it from its neighbors on either side. All the way in the back was a stand of living trees, and just beyond that was the now infamous road and dead wood. Naru checked the time. It was ten to ten. He instructed Ayako and John to stay by the cars with all the equipment in them, and the rest of the team walked up to the front. Naru stopped before the door and looked around for any sign of Nakamura, Saito, or Lin.
"If they're not here in ten minutes, we're leaving," said Naru.
He got only uneasy glances in response. That's when the front door opened, revealing one Osamu Yasuhara, body tense with anxiety.
"You're all here," he said. "Come quickly, please." He ducked back inside.
Mai and John exchanged glances. Monk interrupted. "What about the equipment?"
"Monk and Ayako, stay here," Naru ordered. He gestured to the rest of them to follow, which they did. "How long have you been here?"
Yasu shook his head. "Not long. They left the key hanging on the door."
They passed through the kitchen into the bare living room. The entire house was devoid of personal artifacts, like they had been placed in a hotel instead of someone's actual living space. Yasu was standing by a door to the bedroom, from what they could see.
"In here," he said.
The group piled in.
Unconscious on the bed was Koujo Lin, arms extended over his head, hands still cuffed together. The cuffs had been intertwined with the bars on the headboard, making it impossible for Lin to go anywhere without breaking something.
Instantly, Naru was at Lin's side, touching his neck and face, searching for signs of life. He breathed a sigh of relief when he found both a heartbeat and soft breathing. He tapped Lin's face.
"Lin, wake up."
Lin didn't respond. Naru gave Lin's shoulders a much harder shake, earning the same response—that is, none.
"Get Ayako!" Mai shrieked.
John darted away. From outside, they heard him shout, "Ayako, we need you! Lin's in here!"
Both pairs of footsteps traveled through the house. The crowd made way for Ayako, who knelt beside Lin and took his pulse.
"Is he okay?" Mai asked.
Ayako stayed silent. She pushed open his black jacket and began to open his collar. She felt around his neck, and then she moved to his wrists. She shook her head. "I think he was drugged," she said. "Otherwise, he doesn't appear to have any life-threatening injuries."
"He had a heart attack," Mai said.
"What?" Ayako snapped her head toward the girl, eyes wide.
"When I was projecting, I saw a cop putting away an AED. And we already know how much it hurts him to have his shiki severed."
Ayako took that as a cue to open Lin's shirt further. At one point, she reached for a button but found none. She parted the fabric, revealing the blue and yellow bruising on his chest and his stomach. "These could definitely have been from CPR." Ayako gestured to the bruising on his chest. Nodding at the marks on his abdomen, she continued, "But this… he was hit here for some other reason."
"Should we call an ambulance?" Mai asked.
Yasu asked. "I thought about doing that when I first got here, but with everything that's been going on, I wanted to wait for you."
Naru put a finger to his chin. His eyes betrayed his anxiety. "If we call an ambulance, it will take him to the nearest hospital." He turned to Ayako. "Yours. Do you think you could go with him?"
"Not as a working doctor," she said. "If I'm off the clock, I'm a visitor. If I'm on the clock, then I'm not available to work this case, and I can't guarantee that I'll be assigned to him."
Naru nodded. "What's security like?"
"Average," Ayako said. "But it is easy for things to get lost in the shuffle."
"Oh look, he's waking up!"
Everyone turned to Lin at Masako's alert. Sure enough, Lin's brow was furrowing. He opened his visible eye and stared at them. Naru shifted forward, not touching him.
"Lin? Can you hear me?"
Lin winced. He tried to bring his hands down, but the cuffs stopped him. He tugged against it, mild panic becoming apparent in his eyes. Naru reached over and touched Lin's chest, trying to calm him. He was not prepared for Lin to roll towards him and kick him away. It was a shove rather than a genuine kick. Had it been the latter, Naru would have needed the hospital trip in question. Naru fell against the nearby cabinets, more shocked than anything.
"Back!" Ayako barked. "Everyone get back! The drugs might not wear off all at once."
Lin laid on his side, squeezing his eyes shut. He was frozen in place, tense and bracing himself. It took a moment, but Ayako, Mai, and Naru realized he was waiting to be struck. The heartbreak in the room was audible.
"Lin? It's us," said Mai. "You're here with Naru, with Ayako, Masako, John, Yasu, and Monk's outside. You're not with them anymore."
It was either her words, her voice, or the effects of the drugs wearing off, but Lin's visible eye snapped open once more. This time, he was coherent. He rolled over onto his back, observing everyone present. He spotted Naru standing by the drawers, cradling his own wrist.
"Oliver?" he said. His head turned to Ayako next, taking in her presence. He did that with every member of the team present. He tried to sit up, but the cuffs kept him down.
"Oh, we brought bolt cutters, didn't we?" Mai exclaimed. Breaking into a run, she yelled, "Mooooonk!" The sound of her shout made Lin flinch.
"How do you feel?" Naru asked.
"Like shit," said Lin. An apt response.
"What hurts?"
"Everything. Chest and ribs are the worst."
Monk came in with Mai behind him. He was holding the freshly bought bolt-cutters and made for Lin's side of the bed. He didn't miss the way that Lin tensed when he leaned over the bed to reach his hands..
"Hold on, man. This'll just take a second."
He broke the cuffs at the chain, finally giving Lin his hands back. He sat up, swinging his feet over the side of the bed.
"Not so fast, Lin," said Ayako.
"Want me to get the cuffs too?" Monk asked.
Lin shook his head, breathing deeply. "Not yet."
Monk nodded, lowering the cutters. "Just let me know when."
"What did they do to you?" Naru asked.
Lin sucked in a breath. He visibly suppressed a shudder.
"Where did they take you?" Mai interjected. Lin looked up at her, uncomprehending. "I tried to find you with my astral projection, but we had missed you by the time we got back."
"We?" echoed Lin.
"Me and your water shiki."
Lin closed his eyes and bowed his head. "I doubt she's still here, is she?"
Mai gave a helpless head shake. "I don't know."
"That's a naiad's nature. If she's gone, there's nothing I can do about it."
"So where did they take you? I couldn't even find the car they took you in."
"They never put me in a car. I don't think I ever left the building. They kept me in a cell by a file room downstairs. The cell had a drain. Fusei called it the underground block or something—the place where they interrogate enemies of the state, but I don't fully believe that." He idly redid the buttons on his shirt, save for the missing one near his solar plexus.
Ayako walked up to the hunched man and touched his shoulder. "Are there any injuries we need to know about?"
Lin glanced up at her. That's right, she was a doctor. He shook his head. "They bruised my ribs when they did CPR, and he hit me when he relocated me. That's all."
Ayako nodded. "Did they do anything else to you?"
Lin offered a shaky nod. "Yes and no. They…" His breath hitched, and his jaw tightened. Ayako paused, and then she addressed the room. With a wave, she dismissed all of them. To no one's surprise, there was protest. Mai spoke first.
"But Ayako…"
Ayako's doctor glare left no room for argument. Naru bowed his head. He made for the door, and the rest of the group followed. Only Yasu stopped, addressing her.
"Let us know when you need us?"
To this, Ayako nodded.
Once the room was empty, and the door was shut, Ayako positioned herself in front of Lin. She crouched down to meet his eyes. He stared at her, his eyes full of torment. Ayako had seen victims of abuse before, as was to be expected at a hospital. She had also seen her occasional victim of crime and kidnapping. She had never worked with a survivor of torture. She wasn't a hundred percent sure that Lin had experienced deliberate, extended periods of violence, but Ayako had no doubt in her mind that Lin had been tortured.
"You don't have to talk about it now. You don't have to talk about it with me. Just at some point."
Lin nodded. Ayako was almost sure that he would leave it at that. But then he took a deep, shuddering breath and spoke. He was so quiet that Ayako nearly missed his words.
"There are no injuries because he left none."
She didn't ask. She let her confused expression do the talking.
"He thought I was Weiguó. I denied it. Somehow, he was able to… without moving. Without touching me. I have no injuries because he left none."
Ayako tilted her head. "How do you think he could have done that?"
Lin remained still. Of all people on the team, Ayako was sure that Lin was the most in tune with his body, and how his body worked. To be hurt in a way that he could not comprehend was just another layer of trauma that would have to be worked through.
"Do you think," she began. "That your two missing shiki had anything to do with this?"
At once, there was light in Lin's eye. He turned to her, a look of disbelief on his face. And then he buried his face in his palms. "I can't believe I didn't think of that. Fucking useless."
Ayako sat next to him on the bed. When he didn't react, she put a gentle hand on his shoulder.
"Hey. Don't do that. Don't beat yourself up. You don't deserve it. It's only natural that after going through what you went through, that your ability to think critically would be impacted."
She took a breath. She let the silence pass for a moment. And then she hunkered down. "I do have to ask. Did Fusei… Were any of his attacks sexual in nature?"
Lin shook his head. "He never did that."
Ayako had no reason to believe he was lying. She accepted his answer with a sigh of relief.
"How did I get here?" Lin asked.
Ayako shook her head. "I believe you had been drugged. Yasu was the one who found you. We'll have to ask him."
Lin pushed off the bed to stand up. Ayako grabbed his shoulder. Lin tensed, catching himself just before he shoved her. Ayako made a mental note. Don't grab Lin without warning. Lin stared straight ahead. "I'm assuming I'm here because of the deal Naru made."
Ayako frowned. "How did you… Right, your shiki."
"This is a trap."
"We know."
Lin faced her. "If they let me go so easily, then they're definitely planning to get rid of us once we do what they want."
Lin strode forward, but his legs were still wobbly. He fell against his wall, catching himself with his arm. Ayako walked up to him and offered him her arm. Lin stared at her. Then he shook his head, the stubborn mule. She followed him out into the room.
The rest of the group was gathered around the living room, and Yasu was talking. They stopped once they heard the door open.
"Oh, there you are," Yasu said.
"You guys good?" Mai asked, to which Ayako nodded.
Naru and Lin made eye contact. "You okay?" Naru asked.
Lin opened his mouth. He hesitated. Clearly, he was about to say that he was fine, but Naru glared sternly at his assistant. And then Lin noticed Naru still holding onto his wrist. He didn't need to say anything. Naru followed his gaze and instantly unclasped his hand.
"It's nothing," Naru said.
"Did I do that?" Lin asked.
"Only because he was an idiot and loomed over you while you were still confused," said Ayako.
"It's not a big deal," Naru said, turning away from Lin's guilty expression. "Yasu, please finish your report."
"Sure thing, boss," said Yasu. "Just so that we're all on the same page, I'll recap from the beginning."
Lin and Ayako made their ways over to the table setup. Ayako sat next to Monk, leaving Lin between her and John. Naru was directly across from him.
"So I started looking into the history of development here, and these woods have been pushed back over several decades. I'll admit that for this one, I just went back in time on google maps and checked the growth of the suburbs. I did find a few strange locations on the maps that caught my eye—"
Yasu put a printed picture of the map down. There was a location in the map circled, and Naru saw the problem instantly. An open circle in the woods with a blurred ground. The quality was much lower in that circle than anywhere else on the map.
Ayako reached out, and Naru handed her the map. She and Monk nearly pressed heads together, observing.
"Isn't that where we found the hatch?" Monk asked.
"Could be," said Ayako.
"Yeah, but also look at this." Yasu pulled out another map image with a much longer circle drawn on it. The circle was over a part of the woods that had been cut back. The road that flanked the target area of their investigation was under construction, as evidenced by the dirt paths and bulldozers caught in the imaging. Yasu's circle was drawn around a clearing in the trees that looked like a crossroad.
"Isn't that just the cross street?" Monk asked, pulling out a more recent map. Sure enough, there was the crossing road that helped to make the square woods that they now all knew and hated.
"Right, but according to my research, official construction of the crossroad segment didn't begin for another three years after the first was finished. Take a look." He fished out yet another map, dated in between the construction of the first road and its cross-section. The cross-gouge in the earth was gone, covered up by fresh dirt and earth.
The team mumbled amongst the person next to them, trying to figure out what that meant.
"So what you're saying is…"
"Keep up, Mai. That means where this road off the highway meets the crossroad, there was something there originally that isn't anymore. This cross section—" Naru pointed to the dirt crossing the original road landscape, "—was here before those roads, likely. And then someone tried to cover it up before deciding to place a road over it later."
Monk sat up and stared at Naru. "So what are we supposed to do, carve up the road? I'm sure the city will love us to pieces if we do that."
Naru turned to Yasu. "What else do you have?"
Yasu nodded. "It's actually seemingly unrelated, but hear me out. You told me to look into Dr. Matsuzaki's hospital, so I did. First of all, the area did used to be woodland, but that was nearly eighty years ago. Most of this neighborhood was woodland back then. It's possible that the scale of this case extends to the hospital, but considering what you've told me just about the behavior of the spirits, I didn't put much weight on it. But I did find something interesting. Dr. Matsuzaki, were you aware that the president of your hospital's board of directors was recently changed?"
Ayako blinked. "Yes. That happened just over a week ago. I assume that's why they even agreed to hire you in the first place."
Naru folded his arms. "We already concluded that the hospital ghost is unaware of or doesn't care about the administrative side of the hospital."
"Right, but there's more. Dr. Matsuzaki, if you will, can you tell us the board president's name?"
Ayako shook her head. "I haven't had time to stay posted on that."
"It's Dr. Kanna Fusei."
Everyone in the room recoiled. Mai leaped to her feet on a surge of outrage. Ayako leaned forward, pressing both palms against her face. "God, I completely forgot about that."
Naru held up a hand. "Yasu, are you sure that this is the same Fusei family?"
Yasu didn't answer. He just adjusted his glasses and continued. "According to her biography, she's lived in Tokyo nearly all her life, studying medicine and rising up through the ranks. She gave no mention whether she has a brother or not."
"That's because she doesn't have a brother," said Ayako. "The reason I didn't remember her is because I've always known her as Kanna Watanabe. She's not Fusei's sister; she's his wife."
Naru folded his arms. "When did they marry?"
"I don't know. Very recently, I think. But like I said. She was just on the board, not the president, so I never paid attention to her."
"On the subject of police officers," continued Yasu. "There isn't much information publicly available about the officers, which of course you'd expect. But the Eastern Village station recently had a change in captains because the old one retired. The new one is Captain Takato Ito. I'm not sure if that's relevant…"
The team exchanged several glances. Takato Ito didn't seem to raise any flags.
"File that away for future reference," Naru said.
"At least Fusei isn't a captain," Monk muttered, his thoughts shared by everyone present. Yes, thank every god they didn't believe in that Fusei didn't have more power than he already had.
"I have a question, if I may," said John. Everyone looked at him. "If our job is just to get rid of the spirits, then why did we have Yasuhara do this work?"
Naru shot John a sharp look that he couldn't decipher. Instead of answering, he stood up. "All of us need to start unloading the van and getting this place ready."
John glanced around, uncomfortable at being so suddenly dismissed. Nevertheless, the group stood up and began to make for the van. Naru remained tight-lipped as they unloaded, going through motions they had gone through many times before. The only room big enough to set up base was the living room, so they pushed all of the furniture out of the way and began setting up their monitors against the wall. Without Lin's shiki to fortify base, that was left to both Monk, Ayako, and John. In all honesty, with a case such as this, with numbers and stakes as high as these, Naru would have had the monk, miko, and priest help fortify the base, even if Lin was able to do it.
It was only when the van was nearly empty that Naru entered the back and stayed there. One by one, the team realized that their boss wasn't coming back in. And one by one, they climbed in back, waiting for every team member to figure it out.
Once inside, Naru closed the van door. "Remember what I said yesterday? When we're here, assume everything we say and do can be monitored."
Monk looked around. "So then why the secrecy now? We just shared all of our research—hell, we just shared that Yasu's on the team!"
"It's not a secret that this is a trap. Once we do what they want, we're done for."
The uneasy and downright frightened looks around the van said it all. The team was in very real danger, not from spirits, but a human enemy whose web spanned an unknown number of people and professions.
"The reason I had Yasu do the work he did was that, if it came down to it, we could have enough physical evidence to fight back when opportunity arises."
"And if we need a plan B?" asked Monk.
"Then we might hopefully be able to turn the spirits on their killers."
To this, every member on the team stared at Naru like he had grown seven extra heads and then decided to slice them all off at once. The only one to look thoughtful was Yasuhara.
"You mean like… what you did at my school, except for realsies, no take-backs?"
Naru nodded. "Something like that." He looked down and sighed. "Let's face it. There is a chance, maybe at the end of the day, that they let us go and forget we ever existed. But considering what they stand to lose—"
Ayako stepped forward. "Hold on. Are you actually suggesting we find a way to get the spirits to commit murder?"
"If they put our backs to the wall, I see no reason why not," said Masako with a huff and an upturned nose.
"I'm… This is making me really uncomfortable," said John. "We might be jumping the gun here."
"We don't even know if they're going to try to get rid of us," Yasu said.
"I would like to offer for your consideration," Lin said. Everyone turned to him. "As you are aware, Fusei interrogated me for several hours yesterday. He found a way to use my shiki to inflict pain, and therefore leave no marks." Mai's eyes widened. John clenched his hands to his chest. Naru gritted his teeth. "He did so deliberately. That way, I have no proof that would be valid in a court of law of what he did to me. Detained, yes, but not… tortured. What I mean to say is that, at the very least, we can't expect them to make a carless move, especially if they have all the power in the situation."
"Lin, I'm sorry." Mai's voice was just louder than a whisper. Lin's gaze shifted toward her, a confused look on his face.
"You are not at fault," Lin said, bafflement clear in his voice.
Naru cleared his throat. "We need to be prepared to deal with all outcomes, spiritual and human, should they arise. We'll start by investigating the woods, this time in broad daylight." Naru turned to Lin. "Do you feel up to it?"
Lin met Naru's gaze. "I do."
"Wait a minute!" Mai exclaimed. "You can't make him do this!"
"Mai, it's fine."
"It's not fine! You were tortured, and you're still hurt!" She gestured to the bruised flesh peeking out from his shirt, where the button was still missing. "You said so yourself. You were drugged and lying there, and for a full day, I didn't know if you were alive or not! You've been fighting terror every time you go near those woods, and I know that's going to happen when we do it again! I'd be a shitty friend if I said I was okay with doing this to you, especially after knowing everything you've been through!"
Lin shifted, clearly not knowing how to take Mai's outburst.
"You know, man," said Takigawa. "It's okay to not be okay. No one will think of you as weaker or lesser."
Lin shot Monk a glare that, in all honesty, was completely uncalled for. Monk wriggled, as though he had been thoroughly slimed. Lin pushed past the team and exited the van. Nobody dared stop him. They just stared. Eventually, Naru followed suit. He didn't even spare Lin a passing glance.
Mai put a worried hand to her mouth. This was bad. Considering the heart to heart he had with Naru, peeling back his armor to reveal his true fears, this was the worst possible response Lin could have to this. At this rate, Lin's fear of weakness and Naru's fear of loss would come to a boil, likely at the same time, caused by the same thing. A glance around the van showed that nearly everyone else had come to the same conclusion. Nevertheless, they followed the boss out of the van.
Yasu decided to break the tension. "Who's on base?"
"No one," Naru said.
This time, glances of confusion were passed around the team.
"Base is little more than a decoy. Performance. I still don't trust that Nakamura and Saito won't randomly drop in while we're working, and I don't want a splinter group trapped with them should that happen. Because of that, I want all of us as boots on the ground instead. Let's gear up and get moving."
The group went back inside and grabbed everything they needed. Monk took his beads and tokkosho. He also had a backpack with a spare battery, the camcorder, some tarp, and a roll of duct tape in his pocket. Ayako grabbed her bag full of charms, snacks, and a first aid kit. John had his crucifix and holy water at the ready. That left Lin, Naru, Yasu, and Mai to take the hardware. Naru took the shovel. Lin was given the pickaxe at first, but when he winced and clutched his ribs, Naru pivoted and handed Yasu the pick instead. Yasu slung the pickaxe across his shoulders, and Lin was given the fire axe and crowbar. That left Mai to take the bag with the flashlights, bolt cutters, ghost-detecting equipment, and short range radios. With the entire team kitted out like the strangest camping club in the world, they headed out on foot, through the yard, through the trees, past the road, and into the woeful woods.
The reason Gene hadn't come to Mai's call was because he was already on it. The previous day, he had sped through the spirit realm, scanning for any trace of Lin. It was only when a crack in the in-between appeared that he picked up on Lin's trail. And a crack in the in-between could only mean one thing—Lin was dying.
Gene didn't make it in time to catch a glimpse of Lin's spiritual body before it was yanked back to the living world, but he was able to hone in on Lin's location. He wandered through the police station, trying to figure out where they were holding him. Had he known that Mai was on her way, he would have waited in the lobby, or above the building. But Lin was all he could think about. One of the last few living links he had with his brother, and a cherished friend in his own right.
It took Gene an embarrassingly long time to find him, tucked away in an underground hidey hole at the very back of the police station. He was sure that not even half of the police officers even knew this room existed. As he floated through walls and hallways, making a beeline for his friend, he happened to pass a young police officer wearing a haunted look, walking the other way. The officer stopped and, honest to God, looked up at Gene. The officer's eyes widened, and he whispered, "You!"
Gene slipped back through the wall, where the young officer absolutely couldn't see him. What the hell. There was a policeman with the eyes of a medium? He hoped the officer had no idea who he was, or that he was related to—
"Are you Mr. Lin's friend?" The words were quiet, tentative, and if Gene was only a few more feet away, he would have missed it. Still, he had no intention of coming out of the wall.
"Dear God, if you can hear me, please help him. I'm not in a position to be able to do that." Gene was smart enough to know that this officer was not praying to God. He was talking to Gene, disguising his words as a prayer should anyone be listening. His words were no louder than a hushed speaking tone. He was likely afraid that someone was listening to him, maybe on a camera or just within earshot. They were, after all, near the jail cells, which were empty, but still had surveillance after all.
Gene was tempted to reveal himself and interrogate this officer, but he kept his head cool. He just needed to remember the policeman's appearance, and then relay that information to Mai later. For now, he proceeded onward to Lin's location.
He made his way into a forgotten file room. The wear, tear, and watermarks on the boxes betrayed its disuse. A muffled groan came from behind a metal door. Gene would have shuddered if he could have. That door was heavy, like a safe, but for solitary confinement instead of precious belongings. Afraid that the person inside might be able to see him too, he pivoted into the spirit realm again. This way, he could see inside the cell without being there. It really was the fourth dimension.
The damage done to Lin's body was not visible in this dimension. But luckily (or unluckily), wounds to the spirit were very much so. Several punctures were scattered all over Lin's spirit body. Lin had a deep puncture that would have pierced his heart if it were inflicted in the material world. Too much of this abuse, and Lin would be sent Gene's way, permanently. The clock was ticking, and Gene had to help. But he was well and truly stumped, for at least a moment. Something was harming Lin's spirit. Harming the spirit of any living thing was a delicate, precise business, and nearly impossible to do on purpose, if you lacked training. So how was this happening?
And then it hit him. Lin's shiki. Any injury inflicted on his shiki were inflicted on his spirit. Something was harming Lin's shiki. For once, Gene was glad he was dead. As a ghost, he had a chance of finding a lost spirit with much more accuracy than a living mortal. Gene could finally repay his cherished friend for everything. Now he just needed to get to work.
Next chapter, the team finally, officially puts boots on the ground of the dead wood.