Quick note, as of Dec 12 2023, there was a slight dialogue change in chapter 15, when Hattori and Ayako discuss the usage of Site 387 post-war.

TLDR: Hattori does not offer freely the information about post-war Site 387. Ayako presses him, and he is surprised that anyone believes the site was still in use after the war. The actual information conveyed remains the same, but with the added doubt.

Blame my lack of planning for these edits. But I think I have a plan now. We're good. All is good. I'm fine. It's fine.

.o0o.

Two spirits stood motionless in an unspecified place in time. One was a tengu swordsman, perched on its wooden stilts that substituted its feet. Its wings were half folded around its form, blade-like feathers shielding its heron-shaped face from view. Ten meters in front of it knelt a lowly brownie fairy, dressed in rags with hair that covered every one of its facial features save for its nose. The brownie's body was covered in slashes, gouges, and punctures from the tengu's steely feathers.

The tengu didn't know who this brownie was, or why it was so cathartic to see the smaller spirit suffer. All the tengu knew was that when a compulsion had come over it, it obeyed. Though… there hadn't been one for a little while now. Then again, it was impossible to keep track of time around here, just as it was impossible to remember anything before arriving here. It only slightly bothered the tengu that it couldn't even remember its own name.

Surface team had decided that standing at the crossroads was doing the underground team no good. They still had the shovel, and a whole bunch of supplies that Takigawa had insisted upon bringing: duct tape, rope, tarps, you name it. It would be much more productive for them to try and dig out the crematorium, rather than poking at the ground, which was no better than grasping at straws. There was only one problem. Mai's feet were fixed on the other side of the road, where she had woken up. She didn't even want to touch the tar.

"Come on, Mai, let's go," said Monk.

Mai, shaking, shook her head. "I can't. I can't go back in there."

"Why not?" Ayako demanded.

"Weiguó." The spirit's name was choked out rather than uttered.

Monk huffed. "He's been quiet up until now. What changed?"

"He agreed to go back before," Masako said. "I believe it was a favor to Lin. I don't think the favor extends indefinitely."

"We're wasting time!" Monk shouted. "The guys down there are sitting ducks if Fusei checks on that file room!"

"Why would he?" Ayako asked. "It's not like they're expecting us."

"But think about it. How likely is it that Fusei already knows the police station and the prison facility are connected? And we didn't even think to ask that stupid cop why he was even able to come to us!"

"What do you mean?" Mai asked. "He's a police officer."

"Right, but he came alone," said Takigawa. "Would this be something his job would let him do? His T.O?" The monk let out a frustrated groan and tugged at his hair. "Aaargh! There's too much we don't know!"

"Why don't we go down to the police station?" Masako asked. "At the very least, we can divert some attention. Perhaps, and this rides on the chance that this is not an internal conspiracy, perhaps the other officers will be able to answer the questions that Hattori could not."

Ayako's eyes narrowed. "You're implying that Fusei is acting of his own accord."

Masako turned to her, her own eyes as sharp as flint. "Did you not already come to that conclusion?" Even without her kimono to hide her inscrutable nature, Mai found her still to be quite intimidating when she needed to be.

"That's not what I'm saying," said the priestess. "We know that. But if we go in and accuse one of their own of nefarious activity, we'll be the ones with our gooses cooked."

"All right, then we approach this from another angle," said Masako.

The rest of the team stared at her expectantly. When she said nothing, just stood there with her arms folded, Monk prompted, "Which is…?"

"I'm thinking."

And then Mai started beeping. Well, her back pocket did. Startled, all five of them (Weiguó included) jumped. Mai fumbled, slipping her phone out of her pocket and juggling it on her fingertips, finally catching it before it landed on the road and broke.

"Nice save," Monk said.

Mai ignored him in favor of the caller ID. "It's Naru's parents!" she exclaimed.

That got their attention.

"Why would they call you?" Masako asked.

"We're all each other's emergency contacts," Mai said, referring to Lin and Naru. But if Martin and Luella were contacting Mai, it meant that they had likely been trying to reach Naru, and then Lin, with no success. She answered and put the phone on speaker. "Does anyone speak English!?" she whisper-shouted.

"You don't!?" Takigawa blurted. "Then why the hell are you an emergency contact?"

"Hello?" came a voice on the other end.

"Mr. Davis?" Mai tried.

"Taniyama-san?" Martin replied, using the appropriate Japanese honorific.

"Does he speak Japanese?" Takigawa asked.

"ThankgoodnessyoumanagedtopickupIcantgetaholdofmysonorLin"

The group stared at the phone. "I'll take that as a no," said the monk.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Davis, I don't… I can't…"

"Oliver? Lin?" asked Martin.

"No," Mai replied. It was one of three words she could say in English with confidence.

A frantic Luella shouted, "Whatsgoingontellmemysonisokay. WhereisLinishesafeishehurt—"

"DearIdontthinkanyofthemspeakEnglish."

"Whatsthepointofhavinganemergencycontactwhowecantcommunicatewith!?"

As this rambling was going on, Masako noticed something out of the corner of her eye. She turned to it, and felt something ask her permission. Realizing what was going on, she nodded, and allowed her own spirit to recede and made way for Eugene Davis.

With a hand much more confident than Masako's, Gene silently demanded the phone. Realizing sort of what was going on, Mai gave over the device.

"Hello? M… Mister Davis?"

"…Hara-san?" Martin asked.

"It's me, Dad."

There was a halt in the conversation. Martin gasped and Luella whimpered.

"Eugene?"

Mai perked up at Gene's name. She looked at Masako, whose eyes were shrouded in sorrow. She was obviously possessed, and now they knew the culprit. With a solemn silence, unable to follow the conversation, the group watched on.

"I don't believe it," Luella said. "Tell me something only Gene would know."

"When both of us were fourteen, you had gifted me an alto sax for Christmas. I drove everyone except Dad crazy with that thing. The next Saturday, I found it utterly blown to pieces in the back yard. Noll had to go to the hospital the same day."

Luella let out a shaky breath.

"Son, does… does this mean…?"

"This is an exceptional circumstance," Gene said. "It won't be good for this to become regular. I'm dead, Dad. Mom. I love you all so much, and while I'm glad you will always remember me—"

"Always!"

"We'd never forget you, Gene."

A hint of a smile appeared on Masako's face. "I want you to keep living your lives."

"Will you ever come home?"

"I go where my brother goes."

Luella let out a sad sigh. "Ah. That is good. You two were always inseparable."

"Why did you call?" Gene asked.

The other end of the line seemed to shift, just as Gene had. "Right," said Martin. "We couldn't get a hold of your brother. He told us what happened to Lin. Are they both all right?"

"Noll is fine. Lin has been keeping him safe."

"And how is Lin?"

"Not good. Noll got him out of jail, but he's been through a lot these past few days."

"I can only imagine. Why haven't you boys been able to answer our calls?"

"We have a case to finish up here, and it's in a place where the service isn't good."

"But Oliver always lets us know if that's going to happen."

Gene didn't respond to that. He wasn't aware that Noll had kept in such close contact with his parents. He knew that Lin was likely in touch for much of the time, but it was comforting to know that Noll would personally alert their parents if he was going to be unreachable for a period of time. The fact that he didn't do this was likely extremely concerning to them.

"The case we're on… it's related to everything that's been going on with Lin. I won't deny that my brother's probably bitten off more than he can chew, but I trust this team. If any team can climb out of a scuffle, it's this one."

"That's not comforting, Gene," Luella snapped.

"Did you just call to check on us?" Gene asked. He probably hadn't even realized he had started using words like us and we. It was true, he was working this case as much as the others, just from a different plane of existence, but it was dangerous to get comfortable with language that included him as a living person. The last thing he wanted was to bog down the team with his old memories hanging around.

It was Martin who answered his question. "Lin's father called us when he couldn't reach his son. He said he had more information about a distant cousin of his? He said his name was Weiguó?"

"Yes," Gene said.

"Well, Mr. Lin was able to contact this Weiguó's daughter. She said that Weiguó was an international journalist, but Mr. Lin was unable to find any evidence of his existence as such. That's what he wanted to convey. And Gene, tell me. How unwell is Koujo? What's been going on?"

"It's bad, Dad. Lin, he's suffered immensely over these past few days, physically, emotionally, spiritually… It's not really my place to say what's happened to him."

The other end of the line paused again. "I… I understand. But if Mr. Lin calls again, is there anything you want me to tell him?"

Gene hadn't an answer to this. "Just… just be careful? This one could cause international tension if we do this wrong."

"Just what have you all gotten yourselves into!?"

Masako's face flickered with unease—the type that guilty children had plastered on their faces after doing something they weren't supposed to be doing. "Uh… I'm running out of time here. I'm sorry that I can't come home, but I promise I'll always be there. Bye Dad. Love you, Mom."

And suddenly, Masako was back, blinking in stupor.

"Uh… what just happened?" she asked, the conversation returning to Japanese.

"Helloisanyonestillthere?EugeneTaniyama-sanHara-san?"

The group stared at the phone, glancing nervously around the group.

"What do we do?" Mai whisper-yelled.

"Bye Mr. and Mrs. Davis!" Takigawa said.

"Holdonwaitaminute—"

Masako hung up. The group stood there for several seconds, unable to comprehend what just happened. And then came the face palming.

"It seems that every Davis is bad at phone conversations," Masako said, glancing off to the side. Presumably, that's where Gene still was. There was another pause. And then Masako said, "Of course nobody got it; none of us speak English!"

She listened. Then she nodded. "Okay. I'll tell them. How are they down there?" Another pause. Masako formed a silent 'oh' with her lips. She then nodded. "I'll tell them."

Masako turned to the group. Mai waved to the side, trying to say goodbye to Gene.

"He's still here," Masako said, making Mai feel like an idiot. She relayed the gist of the conversation Gene had with his parents, glossing over the personal details, and then moving onto the status of the underground team (which was bad), and then the information concerning Weiguó.

"So… he was a secret journalist?" Mai asked. "I've never heard of such a thing, but I don't doubt they exist. I think."

"Because they do exist," said Ayako. "We call them spies."

The group stopped as they took that in. Takigawa was the one to make the apt statement, "That explains a lot."

"So what should we do? Go to the police station and see what information they have on Weiguó?" Mai asked.

"Oh I'm sure that'll go over well," Ayako said with a scoff. "Hey officer, tell me everything you know about this foreign spy from forty years ago that we somehow know about."

"I'm also not sure what Weiguó has to do with what we're doing here," Masako said, gesturing to the woods. Ayako scratched her chin in thought, whereas Monk folded his arms.

"It… doesn't really," Takigawa said. "I mean… if the séance that you two, Naru, and Lin did told us anything, then Weiguó was experimented on long after the war."

Ayako shook her head. "We're approaching this wrong. Set aside what we know about the woods for now." She made a pushing motion toward the woods for emphasis. "Let's just recap what we know about Weiguó."

"You mean treat him like a separate case?" Mai asked.

"Precisely," said the priestess. "That way, we might have a chance at spotting the connections without trying to draw them preemptively."

"You mentioned it before," Monk said, "We are kind of dealing with two different cases here."

Ayako looked at him. "I think you were the one who mentioned it."

"Should we include the guys?" Takigawa asked, waving the radio.

"They're in a precarious situation right now. We should wait for them to contact us, unless we really need their attention," said Ayako.

"Okay," said Monk. He fished out of the backpack his big tarp, which he spread out on the dirt and grass beneath them. "Grab a seat and let's start talking."

The group did so. Mai passed around the nuts and protein bars that they had packed, and Masako once again recounted what Gene had said.

"Weiguó is Lin's cousin once removed, the son of his great uncle. Lin's grandfather lost touch with Weiguó's side of the family right around the time of the war. Martin said over the phone that Lin's father managed to find out that Weiguó was, in his words, a secret journalist."

"He learned this from Weiguó's daughter?" Ayako clarified, to which Masako nodded.

"What we also know, and forgive me if this sounds simple, but Weiguó died here." Takigawa said, gesturing again to those damned woods. Nobody spoke—they just waited for him to articulate his point. "In other words, what was Weiguó doing here? Why was he here? Was he on a secret journal mission and get caught, or did he just so happen to get picked up on random chance? I think it's pretty safe to say that Weiguó's business is pretty detached from Lin. Our Lin."

To this, the three women nodded.

"And was he ever reported missing?" Monk added.

Ayako interjected, whipping out a small notepad. "We should make a list of all the questions we want answered about Weiguó, perhaps for the next séance, or perhaps for the police, if we decide that this is worth going to them for."

"Why was Weiguó here?" Mai repeated Monk's question. "Was he on a mission?"

"Was he reported missing?" Monk said.

"How did he die?" Masako said.

"I know how he died," Mai said, causing the others to stare at her. "I dreamed about him dying over and over and over again."

"Those would have been leaked memories from other spirits," said Masako. "When spirits are kept in a closed feedback loop, and this definitely counts—" She gestured to the woods, "Then all of their experiences tend to bleed together, like a big stew. Whatever he told you could very well have been any number of individual experiences that aren't his. Even the hatred he has toward us, toward Lin, might not be genuine."

Mai nodded. "Right, but I saw Weiguó in the spirit world. I took him there myself when I was dreaming."

"When?" demanded Masako.

"Last night. I saw that he had been cut open like a fish, and he had a hole in the right side of his head."

"So he was autopsied?" Ayako asked.

Masako interjected before Mai could. "If the wound was present in the spirit world, then it was a wound inflicted in life, or directly on the spirit itself after death. The latter is extremely difficult to do, so it is more likely in his case that it was traumatic enough for him to remember in death."

"It was the same wound that something tried to inflict on Lin," Mai said. She had told the group of her most recent astral projection mission, and the horrible condition of Lin's body and mind.

"So then is it possible that whatever attacked Lin is what killed Weiguó?" Takigawa asked. Nobody answered. Ayako merely jotted it down on her notepad.

Once she finished, she said, "And then there's Fusei." She looked right at Mai. "You saw in Lin's memories that Fusei asked about Weiguó directly, right?" Mai nodded. Ayako looked away, thinking. "Lin told me that Fusei was specifically looking for Weiguó. And if it is indeed the case that Lin was arrested because of a phone discussion about Weiguó, then is it possible that Fusei and Weiguó have some connection in life?"

"Like what, they knew each other?" Mai asked.

"I don't know. I'd want to ask Weiguó directly."

"We need Lin for that."

"I know."

"How are we supposed to help them from here?"

Takigawa stood up. "Do you think there's any point in going to the police station ourselves? Because if that's where they are now…"

"Wait, Mai." Everyone turned to Masako. "Did you say you were able to see Weiguó in the spirit realm?"

Mai nodded. "Yeah. Lin's water shiki was able to pull me into the spirit realm, and then I could understand everything she was saying. I did the same to Weiguó. Monkey see, monkey do, I guess."

"And you could understand Weiguó?" Ayako asked.

"That's because you're not talking with words," Masako said. "Intent is what gets communicated out there. Your mind just translates it to speech."

Mai nodded. "Okay. But if I want to take Weiguó to the spirit realm again and ask him these questions, could I?"

To this, Masako put a curious hand to her chin. "Yes. But there is the matter of Weiguó's status. Yes, I can see it, even now. He's so embittered that even if you and he come to a truce of sorts, it will be difficult for him to recall anything unrelated to his traumatic death, and the deaths of the other spirits he was then trapped with."

Mai deflated, looking downward. "Oh. So then… So then we have to help Weiguó."

Masako nodded. "That was my thinking."

"But what about the underground team?"

"I don't know how much we can do for them in their current predicament. If they're in the police station, we don't really have…"

"You know what?" Takigawa said. "I've got Hattori on tape. I'll go to the station and wait for the others. You three should go back to base and get ready to help Weiguó."

"Are you sure about this, Houshou?" Ayako asked.

"No, but it's better if I'm there and they don't need me, rather than the alternative."

With that, the group split up. Takigawa continued along the road toward the police station, which was literally a block away. It was frightening just how close the station was to the hub of spiritual activity. The big building and parking lot was well hidden from his viewpoint, thanks to the wall of trees between the small road and the station. With the radio in hand, he held it up to his ear like a phone and dialed in.

"I'm going to wait for you by the station," he said.

The radio fizzled. "We are searching for a secret exit." That was Lin's voice. "Stand by."

A thought occurred to Takigawa. "You said you're in an old file room. Hattori mentioned an old file room might have information about the underground facility."

"Add stealing documents to trespassing, and we're screwed for life." That was Yasu.

Takigawa nodded. The front doors were coming into view. "Right. Just get out of there."

Fire had returned to the underground team with a general map of the facility. It hadn't noticed Hattori's presence, so it was able to scope out the entirety of the station unimpeded. It also hadn't noticed anything that would lead it to its two missing allies, but that was not a priority as of now.

"I found two fire escapes, and a service door by the stairs," said Fire. It then proceeded to show Lin the route they would have to take. First, they'd have to exit the file room and go down a short-ish hallway. They'd then have to go up a flight of stairs—the one that Fusei took him down blindfolded, and then open a hatch door above them. The hatch would lead to a locked storage room. If they could just get through the locked storage room, they'd emerge in a hallway, and the service door Fire found would be to their left. The only two problems with this last leg of the trip were the occasional officer coming down to the evidence room, which was connected to this hallway, and the two bubble-shaped security cameras imbedded in the ceiling.

"I can overheat the cameras," Fire suggested. "And scout for a clear path."

Lin nodded. "Yes, I would like you to do that." He then reported what Fire had found.

Taking a breath, Naru spoke. "It appears we have our escape plan. Are we ready?"

"What about the tools?" Yasu said.

"Leave them in the hole," said Naru. "It's best if we're not caught with them."

The group of four emerged into the old file room. Yasu left the bolt cutters and the pickaxe behind, and then he and Naru pushed the boxes back in front of the hole they had made. As quietly as they could, they made for the office door, with Fire scouting ahead. Lin was right behind it, leading the group. He wasn't just leading Naru, Yasu, and John; he still had the flock of spirits behind him, their hands still holding onto him like children tagging along with their parent. It was strange, how he could be so laden with spirits and not feel an ounce heavier, physically.

The group made their way up the stairs, until the stairs ran them into the ceiling. Lin felt for the trapdoor that Fire had described. Fire gave them the okay to proceed. Lin began to push, but a sharp pain shooting up his torso put a stop to that. He folded over, clutching his hand to his abdomen.

Yasu took that as his cue to switch places with the injured man. After a nod of approval, Yasu pushed open the trapdoor. They ended up in a storage closet that looked just as abandoned as the file room. Lin joined Yasu at the locked closet door. Naru and John waited patiently on the stairs. Fire was just about to peek its little head out to scout and disable the cameras when someone outside inserted a key into the lock and opened the door.

Nobody had time to react or hide. All four of them stood in plain view of the Officer Hattori, who looked just as surprised to see them. For a split second, nobody moved. Hattori's eyes were locked on Lin, eyes wide with what could only be described as horror. The hands on Lin's body suddenly disappeared, and Hattori went flying back. Lin realized that his flock of ghosts had attacked Hattori. He almost called out to stop them, but he then remembered the security camera. If he gave any hint that he had done this, someone would find some way of using it against him. He sent a panicked order to Fire, who launched itself toward Hattori.

It landed on top of Hattori and roared at them all to stop. It was in its dragon form, using its whiskers to punch any unruly spirit that did not want to listen.

"Halt, all of you!" it boomed.

The spirits hovered in place, groaning words of revenge and attack.

"You wish to be of service to my master? Then you do what he says. That includes not doing what he doesn't say! Now stand down!"

The dragon-clad huli jing and the wave of spirits held that stand off for several seconds too long. Hattori trembled beneath Fire's form. Fire couldn't read the stupid cop's mind, but it was pretty sure that he was mentally rattling off a prayer to every god he didn't believe in.

Eventually, the spirit wave relented. Silently, they retreated back toward Lin. They reached their hands out, touching him. Lin flinched away at the first few touches.

"Do you all have to be touching my master?" Fire asked.

A few of the spirits flickered, but they all ended up with their hands on Lin's body after a short while. Fire grumbled something about nightmare field trips, but Lin soothed it, saying, "Don't worry. It's not worth the effort."

Shaking like a leaf, Hattori sat up, whispering, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"This isn't a good place to talk," Naru said, eyeing the security camera. He approached Hattori and held out his hand. The officer accepted the hand and stood up. He motioned to the service door and guided them out.

Before they even took a single step out onto the parking lot grounds, Hattori cut in front of them and guided the group alongside the building, to a more secluded nook where cop cars were not present. It was a squeeze to get the four SPR members plus Hattori in between the police station and the neighboring drugstore, but they managed.

"Why are we hiding?" Yasu asked.

"We're not hiding," said Hattori. "We're just going out another way."

"Why?" demanded Naru.

"Would you rather I took you through the parking lot, crawling with cops?"

"No, why are you helping us?"

"Your friends asked me that. I know I'm probably the last person you want to deal with right now, but I couldn't stand what Officer Fusei did to you."

Lin gritted his teeth. "You stood by just fine, if I recall."

"I was cowardly, I admit it. But I want to help you now."

"Is this guilt talking?" Naru bit out.

"We shouldn't ridicule repentance," John cautioned.

"We shouldn't excuse cruelty," returned Naru.

Yasu then spoke up. "I think what John's saying is that we probably should use all the help we can get, and pissing off our benefactor is a strategically bad move."

To this, Naru said nothing, but his silence was response enough. With no further comment, he allowed Hattori to lead them through the breezeway, around the corner, to the drugstore parking lot.

"I'll radio Takigawa," Yasu offered. When no one stopped him, he did so, alerting the monk to their new location.

"I'll meet you there," said Monk.

That finished, Yasu joined the rest of the group, staring down Hattori.

"Start talking," Naru ordered, arms folded.

"Has the rest of your team told you what I told them?" Hattori asked.

"Let's hear it from the horse's mouth," said Naru.

Hattori recounted, in a much briefer speech, what he had told the surface team—about Gene's appearance and role in Lin's freedom, the encounter Hattori and Fusei had with Lin's shiki, as well as the known history of Site 387.

"I was surprised to hear that you think that it was used afterward," Hattori said. "Your friend Ms. Matsuzaki brought up a good point, that such usage would be a logistical nightmare."

Naru kept his arms folded, a guarded position for the man. He did tilt his head. "What can you tell us about Weiguó Lin?"

Lin, John, and Yasu turned to Naru, a confused look on all of their faces. Hattori too looked surprised at the question.

"I'm not sure I've ever heard that name before," Hattori said.

"Your teacher certainly thinks he's important. That's why he was interrogating Lin."

Hattori glanced between Lin and Naru. "I… I'm sorry, were you two related?"

Now it was Lin's turn to fold his arms, wincing as he aggravated the muscles in his chest. Hattori quickly averted his gaze. Lin couldn't tell if it was from guilt, shame, or the fact that he still had a peacock train of mangled spirits tagging along behind him. But as Hattori looked down, his eyes widened.

"Um… do you need a hospital or something?" he asked, motioning to Lin's abdomen. Lin looked down, recalling that he was wearing a white shirt under his black jacket, and surely there was blood smeared all over the front.

"I'm fine," Lin snapped, closing his jacket as best he could over his injured stomach.

"Is there any way you can find out about Weiguó Lin's history?" Naru asked, taking the attention off of Lin.

"I can't say for sure. What exactly would I be looking for?"

"Missing persons. Homicide cases. Foreign tracking."

Hattori again lowered his gaze. "I assume Mr. Lin was also Chinese?"

The question was rhetorical. Naru didn't answer it.

"If he's in our database, then I can certainly learn about it. But unless you're looking into it as family… there isn't much I can share with you. It's not like these records are for the public."

Lin stepped forward. "He's my cousin."

Hattori's eyes flicked toward him. He only looked mildly surprised. The rest of the team didn't really react, aside from a few curious glances shot his way. They were about to continue, but a loud, "Heeeeeyyy!" from across the parking lot drew their attention. From behind Lin came Takigawa, having already spotted them. He was charging at them at an alarmingly fast pace, with blazing anger etched into his expression. Lin realized that he was about to punch out the cop, so he jumped between the two of them and took the hit. In this case, it was simply a shove. Hattori's shoulders were at about Lin's chest level. On any other day, Takigawa would only be strong enough to push Lin back a few feet. Today, Lin was knocked flat. He barely avoided hitting his head on the tar. Several onlookers stopped and gasped, some pulling out their phones.

The wave of spirits rippled and groaned with anger. In Chinese, Lin shouted at them to stop and not hurt the monk; he was not an enemy, just an idiot.

"Shit, Lin, I'm so sorry!" Takigawa exclaimed.

"It's fine. I'm fine," Lin said, sitting up and clutching his aching ribs. Naru offered a hand, which Lin accepted.

Yasu gave Monk a small shove of his own. "You really thought attacking a police officer would make things better?"

"It would've made me feel better," Takigawa muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. His glare was fixed on Hattori, broken only in favor of checking over Lin as he painfully rose to his feet.

"If we're okay with me continuing?" Hattori offered. Takigawa huffed but relented. Lin twisted sideways, cracking some bones in his ribcage. Otherwise, nobody responded to Hattori, so he took that as a sign to go on. "If you are indeed family of… what was it, Way-gwo?"

"Weiguó," Naru echoed.

"Then I should be able to get some information to you, depending on its status."

"Status?" asked Yasu.

"If it's not a closed case, or if there's reason to re-open the case, then what I'll be able to tell you would be much more limited than if he was just a person."

Takigawa sent an uneasy look toward Lin and Naru, but he kept his mouth shut.

"Do that," Naru said to Hattori.

"How would I best contact you all?" asked the officer.

Naru narrowed his eyes, thinking. He then handed over his business card, with the SPR's contact information on it. "If you need to get in touch with us, leave a message on our answering machine. We'll be able to see if you do."

Hattori looked over the card. "There's no way to get into more immediate contact?"

Naru didn't answer. He simply cocked his head and glared. Understanding the rejection, Hattori bobbed his head and turned away. "Okay. I'll be in touch." With that, the cop walked away.

Once the cop was gone, a bold bystander approached the five men.

"Are you all right, sir?" the woman asked, directing her question at Lin. Her eyes widened when she saw the bloodstains on his shirt. "Oh my god, you're bleeding! I'll call an ambulance—"

"No ma'am, please don't," Lin said. "I'll be fine. My friends will get me there."

"If you're sure…" The woman gave a suspicious once-over to every other SPR member present. She lingered on Takigawa, who she had seen push Lin in broad daylight. Lin nodded. His stern stare gave no room for argument, no matter how much this woman wanted to.

He turned to Takigawa. "Which way?"

Takigawa nodded his head. "This way. We're regrouping back at base." He took the lead, and the rest of the SPR followed.

Once they had walked far enough out of earshot, Takigawa turned back to Lin. "I'm so, so sorry man. I didn't think you'd… I didn't think!"

Lin kept a tight hand clutched to his side, doing what he could to keep his insides on the inside. Takigawa tried to get a closer look at the bloody injury, but Lin didn't let him.

"We should get him to a hospital," John said.

"And you," added Yasu, tapping John's uninjured shoulder.

"Remember what I said about base," Naru added. Takigawa blinked. Lin nodded, recalling Naru's suspicions about being surveilled.

"If we go to emergency, there will be something of a wait," Lin cautioned. He had been to emergency a number of times, mostly because of his raven-haired charge. The times Naru had been on death's door, of course they had gotten in. But as long as he was upright, breathing, and responsive, he was naturally passed over in favor of those who had minutes to seconds to spare.

"Then perhaps it will be better to regroup at emergency?" Takigawa offered.

"There won't be privacy," said John.

"But maybe that's a good thing," said Yasu.

"I doubt they'd let us all stay in emergency," said Naru. "It's a place of business as much as it is a hospital."

"In that case, Lin and John should get to the hospital," said Takigawa. "Naru and Yasu, there's some information we should go over, and it involves Weiguó." At the utterance of the spirit's name, Takigawa suddenly had the full attention of the other four. He reached into his pocket. "Long story short, we're pretty sure Weiguó was either a journalist or a spy, or both. We want to get some answers out of him, specifically these…" He held up his phone, showing them all a picture of the list of questions they had gathered: why Weiguó was here, how he died, was he reported missing or reported at all, and did he know Fusei personally?

Takigawa continued. "But we need to help Weiguó out of the feedback loop he'd been trapped in for the past forty years before we can get any straight answers out of him."

"I'm assuming you'll need me for the translations?" Lin asked.

Takigawa held his mouth open for a moment before answering. "Actually, Mai said she was able to communicate with him in the spirit world, but Masako said that was more like Pictionary telepathy than actual language."

"Language would be ideal," Naru said. "I would like to remind everyone here that we are not in a rush. Remember that solving this case is not the end goal here."

The group exchanged anxious glances, not understanding what Naru was talking about. Sighing, Naru continued.

"There's a trap waiting for us at the end of this case. We need all the time we can get, without arousing suspicion." Naru glanced at Lin, who nodded. "Go to the hospital, both of you." His eyes flicked to John, who also nodded. "Let us know as soon as you can if you're admitted, or if you're discharged."

"Should I go with them?" Takigawa asked. "I have a car."

"Did you drive?" Naru asked.

"Uh… no."

"What about Dr. Matsuzaki?" John asked.

"We need her on the case. If she can pull some strings regarding your care, fine, but if she would just get called back to her hospital work, then it would be a waste of our resources."

"I can get Ayako to drive my car over here. I'll take you two," Takigawa gestured to Lin and John, "And then you three can go back."

To this, Naru agreed, on one condition. "Have her bring the van instead. Then she can drop us off at base."

Ayako arrived not fifteen minutes later. Naru, Yasu, and Takigawa got saddled with the bumpy ride in the back. It was agreed that Lin should ride shotgun, so as not to aggravate his injuries further. When Ayako saw him, she tsked at the shoddy bandage work, but she wasn't as agitated as she would have been, had Lin demanded they not go to the hospital.

As they got in, Lin hesitated. He still had the huge flock of spirits trailing behind him like the balloon storm from the movie Up. It seemed unlikely that they would all be able to fit inside the van, even though they were non-corporeal beings. Sensing its master's hesitation, Fire did something immensely clever. It coaxed the spirits away from its master, and instead let them wrap their essences around its nine tails, compressing their space and latching onto their power. It wore them like an extra coat of magic. The spirits clung to it like male anglerfish, giving it power that it had long since sealed away in favor of servitude toward the Lin family. Why, with this rush of power, Fire might very well be able to reign over its own little village! But first things first, its master needed healing.

Ayako, once she realized that Lin was paused, sent an uneasy stare toward him. Lin explained what had happened, Ayako accepted it. She dropped off the two men at emergency. Before driving away, she looked at them, sending him a discreet, "Keep me posted."

"Right," replied Lin. And then Ayako left.

The doctors were suspicious of both Lin and John's injuries. Their injuries were clearly from a fight, and none of the doctors had the best poker faces. Even more disconcerting: Lin did receive a look or two of recognition from a passing nurse, presumably from several days ago when they were still using the hospital as a base. These looks of suspicion and curiosity were quickly lost in the shuffle of constant activity.

At first, the doctors asked the typical questions about feeling safe at home, and if his boyfriend ever lashed out, physically or verbally. After a shocked and confused pause, both Lin and John quickly clarified that they were colleagues, not partners, and that neither of them were in a relationship. They then had to tell the doctors that their job involved hunting ghosts, hence the injuries. That got them the stink eye, but nevertheless they were treated.

After all was said and done, Lin had been admitted, and John had been discharged, predictably. John had been checked over and cleared by an orthopedic surgeon, with orders for further imaging and check-ins, just to make sure the joint was healing properly. Thankfully, he had managed to avoid major complications, such as torn muscles or blood vessels. The damage to his back was minimal—the worn out walls made his first injury appear more dramatic than it actually was, and his shoulder looked decent, apart from the swelling.

On the other hand Lin needed twenty stitches for the cut on his abdomen, as well as a round of antibiotics for the infection that was slowly creeping into his system. The doctors also wanted him to take in some fluids, due to the fact that he hadn't had any food or water since the previous morning. The bruised ribs from the CPR would just have to heal naturally, but he could take painkillers if he wanted them. Like the stubborn mule he was, he turned them down during his stay. Painkillers made him drowsy, and like it or not, he was still in the middle of a battle.

To say that the doctors were suspicious of his injuries, as well as his refusal to talk about them, was an understatement. But Lin had told them everything they needed to know. He was no stranger to discretion and medical professionals, thanks to Naru's explosive powers. Eventually, the doctors and nurses (and even a psychiatrist) gave up and left him alone. It was nice, that first hour of solitude, where he could clear the mess in his mind and actually hear himself think. But such serenity couldn't last.

That became no more apparent when, as darkness crept over the sky, a pair of white starry eyes peered in on him from the window, which faced Amnity Park.

This has been quite the roller coaster of writing, for me at least. A lot of Yes And, and No But. But I think we're coming around the bend to a resolution. Solving the case, tying up loose ends.