Case Two—Part 3 & Intermission
When Mai eventually woke up the next morning, her head felt like it was splitting in half. She could barely stand the light through her eyelids let alone trying to open them up at all.
She expected to find herself at the astral office where Gene would be there to chide her for confronting the spirit. Instead, she heard the chatter of John and Bou-san as they moved around their base.
As soon as he noticed she was up, John got her some tea and an onigiri to help restore her energy.
"You probably expended quite a bit of your spiritual energy. That's likely the cause of your headache," he explained.
After Mai was figuratively "knocked out," her spirit returned to her body. Unfortunately, that meant Masako took a nice fall into the well. Other than having the wind knocked out of her, the medium was pronounced uninjured.
While Naru and Lin had already disappeared somewhere, Ayako was ordered to watch over Masako as she rested. This left John and Bou-san to watch for any other activity.
"We heard Masako-chan call out to you as she was being pulled down."
Bou-san nodded. "Yeah, it was kind of crazy—like she was frozen in mid-air! Don't tell me it was you holding onto her?"
She shrugged. "Not for the lack of trying, anyway."
"No wonder you look like someone ran you over with a truck," Bou-san said, nodding his head in understanding.
"Gee, thanks."
"You're welcome." He grinned.
With nothing else to do, she quickly filled in her journals and let John "peer-review" with his chosen pale turquoise pen. After that, she was half-tempted to try contacting Tomiko but wasn't sure if she was mentally prepared for the drama that would ensue.
Instead, when Ayako left for the store, Mai visited Masako. Even though Gene said the medium would be okay, she wouldn't believe it till she saw it. When she entered the guest room, she found Masako sitting up in bed looking untouched—not a single hair out of place.
The other girl looked almost delighted when the door opened, but when she saw it was just Mai, her smile dropped and she looked away annoyed.
Mai's eyebrow twitched in response. "Expecting someone else?"
"Not in particular," she denied.
Mai raised a single brow, not at all convinced. "Okay… well, glad to see you're back to normal. Were you hurt at all?"
"Nothing aside from some scratches." Masako fiddled with the blankets for a moment. "It's good that you came. I was wondering something."
"What's up?" Mai asked as she plopped onto the edge of the bed in one big heap. She promptly ignored the glare she received for her notion.
"Who was that you were talking to right before I fell in the well?"
Mai favored staring at the floor rather than at Masako to appear nonchalant. "You could see them?"
"Not clearly, but I certainly heard him."
"That was just my spirit guide. The rabbit deity you sensed the first time we met was also there."
"I see. That would make sense. I could only see them once you touched me."
When she didn't say anything else, Masako eyed her carefully. "When I landed at the bottom of the well, I saw Naru down there with me. He checked for injuries and then smiled when he saw I was okay. He disappeared after that."
Ah. So that's what she wanted to talk about.
What was Masako's motive in talking about all of this? Was she just curious and sharing her experience? Or was she trying to confirm something?
There wasn't necessarily anything to hide, so why did Mai feel like she couldn't—shouldn't—talk about it?
It wasn't like she was the only one allowed to communicate with Gene. If he could have, Naru's twin would've contacted Masako in the first place instead of getting stuck with Mai. The medium was also a professional psychic. She would know how to handle this situation compared to an amateur like her.
And yet, why didn't Mai want to share this connection that had been exclusive to only her until now? Was she being selfish by not wanting to reveal the connection she had to Naru's twin?
Mai cautiously nodded but couldn't muster anything to say.
That was enough of an answer it seemed. "I don't quite understand what is going on, but it looks as though we both know too much," Masako said with an unreadable expression.
Before Mai could question her, she gracefully pushed the covers off and left the room, leaving Mai to ponder what she meant.
Naru and Lin eventually came back from who-knows-where, so they began brainstorming their next steps. The most obvious course of action was to reunite the two spirits. Negotiating with Ooshima was out of the picture, so Tomiko would have to be the target.
Because Masako couldn't effectively communicate with Tomiko, and Mai was still inexperienced, Naru developed another plan—to provide a substitute for both mother and child. Being the worst possible communicator though, there was inevitably some confusion about who or what the substitutes would be. This resulted in mild discourse.
"Naru, I don't agree with this idea," Masako said, albeit a bit coyly. "I would prefer to bring these spirits to peace without trickery."
"Masako's right! With Tachibana-san and Tomiko-chan here, there's no reason to trick them into passing on. It doesn't sit right with me."
Naru crossed his arms. "Unless either of you can convince Tomiko-san, this may be our only option."
Masako looked at Mai, which led everyone else to follow suit.
With everyone watching her, Mai instantly regretted saying anything at all. She couldn't even blame them! She was the only one who had encountered Tomiko, so it only made sense that she contacted the spirit.
Groaning, she dropped her head in defeat. "I can try…"
While Mai was tasked to do that, Naru had everyone else prepare.
Ayako had to make as many talismans as she could to spread around the house. The northeast corner was to be left open to allow easy exit for the spirits. The plan was to scatter the children's spirits with talismans and prayers to lure out Ooshima. If Mai ended up being successful, they would use that moment to reunite the parent and child.
If she didn't return promptly, Naru would have one of the spiritualists lure out Ooshima and begin his alternate plan.
To say she had performance anxiety was an understatement. It was like she was diffusing a bomb—and for all she knew, she might as well be!
Mai inched toward the pond cautiously, already feeling like puking. Could she really do this on her own?
With all the training recently, it was apparent that her abilities were strongest in spirit form. But how would the crew know she was successful if she chose to confront Tomiko as a spirit and somehow managed to bring her inside the home as such? From what she could tell from the last time, Masako wasn't able to see her unless Mai touched her with her spirit.
Seating herself on the grass, she sighed and looked out at the pond. "Tomiko-chan?"
The wind blew as normal, sending a ripple into the water as the plants shook. After a few minutes of waiting to no avail, she called out to the young spirit again. "You want to return to your Okaa-san, right? I can help you meet her."
When nothing changed yet again, Mai felt her confidence waver as doubt settled into her stomach. Crossing her legs, she rested her cheek in her hand and her elbow on her knee. If only she was like Masako who could easily see and speak to spirits! Then, maybe she could be more helpful.
As she was now, she felt like an imposter. Sure, she saw and spoke to spirits here and there, but there wasn't any consistency.
She never cared about any of this before… in fact, she used to enjoy the "off" days. But now that she could be useful to others, her unreliability felt inadequate.
She perked her head up when she felt Usa-sama materialize beside her. She greeted the deity with a curious tilt of her head, "What's up?"
The white rabbit placed one paw on her knee. Memories from the past few months flashed through her mind—specific memories of her training with Gene, the happiness she felt whenever she answered one of Naru's questions right, and the surprising amount of fun she had from learning about the paranormal.
Why was he showing her this?
Out of nowhere came Gene's disembodied voice inside her head. "You've learned a lot. You can do this!"
She jumped a bit from hearing his voice but allowed herself a moment to process his message. Both her guides seemed to think she could do it, but did she think she could do it?
"Just breathe, Mai," said Gene.
The brunette exhaled deeply and nodded. Giving Usa-sama a head scratch, she smiled. "Thanks, guys."
Seeing as she wasn't wallowing in self-doubt anymore, her rabbit companion dropped himself into a loaf beside her.
Mai assumed her usual meditation pose before falling into the pattern of breathing that was nearly second nature to her now. Maybe if she could get herself into a hypnagogic state—as Naru had referred to it—she could utilize her senses better.
There were still some hints of doubt, but she could accept that she now knew much more than she did prior.
The soothing sounds of the wind blew past the trees washing out the faint sounds of everyone in the house. It was comforting, knowing that there were others there with her. The feeling was akin to hearing her parents chatting and watching TV in the living room while she was snuggled in her bed as a child.
How she missed her parents.
"Okaa-san…"
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard the faint weeping of a little girl. It sounded like the voice was directly inside her head. The image of Tomiko crouched down to the ground crying flashed into her mind's eye. Mai's last vision had been through the little girl's eyes, so seeing her now as she was when still alive, she could clearly see how young the girl was. Tomiko was short for her age with a short hime-type haircut and a big bow on her head.
"I don't want to be alone… why won't Okaa-san come for me?"
Mai had no clue what she was doing, but she took a gander to call out to the girl through her mind. Tomiko-chan, I can help you meet your Okaa-san again. Won't you come with me? I promise I'm not lying to you.
The little girl shook her head. "I can't leave the pond."
Why not?
The image of Tomiko's tattered hair ribbon stuck beneath the water flashed into her mind. It ebbed and flowed with the water as it stuck out from under a stone. It was surprising that it hadn't deteriorated over the years.
Can you leave the pond if I find your ribbon and take it with me?
The little girl seemed unsure but it was a risk Mai was willing to take for this poor spirit.
Can you show me exactly where it is? I'll do my best to find it.
When another image appeared, she noted with relief that it at least wasn't at the deepest part of the lake. It wasn't exactly a nice swim but knowing that Tomiko wasn't trying to drown her this time, she was willing to try.
Breaking out of her meditative state, she mentally prepared herself for what she was going to do next. Mai wondered if her tendency to make questionable decisions would ever stop.
After removing any valuables from her pockets, she dove into the water.
The depth was easily three times her height. She would be forever grateful for her father forcing her to take swim lessons at a young age.
Despite the water being difficult to see through, Tomiko's ribbon lit up mysteriously for her. At least two attempts were made to swim deeper before she had to return to the surface to catch her breath and regain stamina. By the third time, she finally reached the ribbon but then struggled to remove the stone. Using every last bit of energy she could summon underwater, she unlatched the stone just enough to remove it.
She rushed to the surface and as good as crawled out of the pond. That was the most exercise I've gotten all year…
Mai heaved for breath as she relished in the comfort of the ground. She nearly fell asleep but woke up when she heard Bou-san's mantras in the distance from the house.
Forcing herself to a stand, she regarded the tattered ribbon in her hand. "Tomiko-chan, why don't we go?" For a second, Tomiko's apparition flickered beside her—the little girl's smaller hand replacing the ribbon.
When they approached the house, a tug on Mai's arm pulled her back. Ayako's talismans were warding Tomiko away.
She hesitated, worried about what would happen to the spirit if they entered. From what Naru said, the talismans' main purpose was to prevent the spirits from escaping except through the northeast demon gate. So, Tomiko entering shouldn't be a spectacle?
Reassuring the little girl, the two stepped in together. There was some resistance toward Tomiko, but otherwise, she was unscathed.
The sound of Masako's pleading and the increasingly loud recitation of John's holy scriptures signaled that Tachibana-san was successfully lured. Sprinting toward the living room, she was surprised to find Masako with a torn kimono as Tachibana-san's apparition hovered over her. John began reciting increasingly powerful verses.
She's going to be exorcised at this rate…!
"Stop! I brought Tomiko-chan!" Mai ran forward with the ribbon in hand.
When Tachibana-san caught sight of the ribbon, the negative energy around her dulled before fully dissipating. Her expression softened as tears fell from her eyes. What was once a malicious spirit before them was now just the simple apparition of a mother.
"Okaa-san!" Tomiko's spirit materialized from the ribbon. She drifted to her mother who caught her in a deep hug.
"My Tomiko! I'm so sorry," wept Tachibana-san. Pain, regret, but also, peace was evident on her face.
A warm light surrounded the two as a comforting calm filled the space.
Tomiko turned to face Mai with a smile. "Thank you, Onee-san." She snuggled back into her mother's chest before the two faded. The spirits of the trapped children were also cleansed, filling the house with a warmth Mai hadn't felt in years.
Mai closed her eyes to allow the feeling to sink in fully. She held Tomiko's ribbon to her chest before it too vanished into thin air.
Goodbye, Tomiko-chan.
After the cleansing was over, Mai instantly passed out, leaving a giant wet puddle in the middle of the living room for someone—Ayako—to clean.
She slept through the cleaning-up process dream-free and woke up just in time to be whined to by Ayako for napping through all the manual labor. Now, that wasn't to say Ayako didn't first acknowledge her job well done though.
Through some poking and prodding by Bou-san, it was revealed that Naru's original plan all along was to use two hitogata as a replacement for both Ooshima and Tomiko. That explained why Naru and Lin were gone earlier this morning.
Bou-san assumed that Naru and Lin may be onmyoji as this class of spiritualists was most capable of creating hitogata. The vibe the two gave him also supported his assumption—not that a "vibe" should count for much.
Then again, as someone whose abilities relied on "vibes," Mai didn't have the right to judge.
Naru informed the Morishitas of the success of the exorcism before heading out. Noriko even pardoned the damages taken to the home due to Ooshima's spirit. Since being at the hotel, Kana and Ayami's relationship was also on the mend. Their little family was going to be okay.
Masako looked like she wanted to ride with the SPR crew but had an episode to film nearby, so she left first. Not before sending Mai an unidentifiable stare, of course. When Mai sent her an equally perplexed look, the medium turned her nose away and got in her taxi.
Ayako hitched a ride with Bou-san back to Tokyo since they came together, while John joined the SPR crew.
The ride back was much more fun than the ride there due to the inclusion of John. The back seats were unfolded allowing Mai to ditch the two statues in the front.
John ended up retelling stories of his past exorcisms until Mai fell asleep.
Her dreams were clear of any visions and she relished in the rest that she got.
That is until she was awoken by the stop of the van and her companions chattering. She first assumed that they had arrived back in Shibuya but upon scanning the windows, they were on the side of the road.
"What's going on?"
"It looks like there's something wrong with the van," John answered. He gestured to Lin who had left to check things out.
Mai watched as Naru also left the van.
When he came back, irritation was clear as day on his face. "The van needs to be towed to an auto shop, but this area is so remote that most businesses are closed until tomorrow. We'll likely have to stay at a hotel tonight." When Mai tilted her head, he added, "We're still too far from Tokyo to justify the price of a taxi."
Thus, cue their current predicament of manually pushing the van to the nearest town until some sort of roadside assistance arrived. It was honestly comical for passing cars to see two suited-up individuals, a blond foreigner, and a teenage girl, who didn't look like she could contribute much, pushing a big van of equipment.
Naru complained that everyone wasn't pushing hard enough, so Mai made sure to chide his ear off until the van started conveniently moving much faster after that.
Eventually, a few locals came to help, leaving Mai to steer the wheels. Once the van was successfully at the shop, the locals escorted the group to the only hotel—it was a quaint Japanese-style establishment with a surprising amount of clientele.
Partly thanks to being haunted.
According to the locals, the hotel was the main attraction for tourists. Its success was the reason the town nearby continued to do well.
Upon hearing of the haunting, Naru's irritability decreased by a decimal… and then it increased again two-fold when they found out there was only one room available for a last-minute booking. At least the room was—allegedly—the most haunted.
Great for Naru but awful for Mai.
After a brief discussion with Naru on comfortability, consent, and some other things that Mai didn't spend too much attention on, they were escorted to their room. The décor and furnishings were nice, likely dating back to at least Edo. Separate futons and yukata were delivered to their room after they arrived and settled down.
"There must be at least a century's worth of history here," John said, in awe of the interior decorating.
Mai nodded and scanned the room with uncertainty. Something felt "off," but she supposed that it would feel that way if the room was as haunted as they say.
They agreed that each member would occupy one corner of the tatami mat portion of the room. The other fourth of the room was hardwood to house a small chabudai* for guests who wanted to sit at a table. It was a shame it was too hot for a kotatsu in her opinion.
Naru and Lin naturally gravitated toward the table to set up their laptops.
Ditching the guys, Mai left for the public bathhouse where she could unwind. Being at the Morishita house left her on edge, so she understandably couldn't shower in peace. She practically skipped there out of excitement, ignoring the fact that this place was also haunted.
Using the bathhouse reminded her of the times before she moved into her current apartment—low-income housing for students didn't have private baths to use. Her current one-bedroom apartment now was considered a luxury.
Halfway through washing her hair, a cold draft sent goosebumps along her skin. Ugh…
Mai peeked over her shoulder as she spread conditioner into her short locks. There was only one other lady in there with her and no one else had entered since. She scanned the room with caution before continuing with her detangling routine whilst remaining alert.
Her guard almost dropped when she heard the other lady yelp. She turned to find the other female holding the back of her head, almost like her hair had been pulled from behind.
The lady was so freaked out that she didn't even bother rinsing the suds before she ran out. She probably didn't even bother to dry up to get changed before running back to her room. Mai only hoped she didn't run back naked.
Way to ditch me in here with the ghost!
If Mai had any safety awareness whatsoever, she would've also made her exit… yet here she was. There was no way she was going to waste the opportunity to use such nice products! Her hair was absorbing this conditioner, ghost or not.
Luckily, nothing happened after that. She even got to exfoliate her whole body without an incident. After she was done, she changed into her yukata and left feeling like a brand-new person.
Well, except when she attempted to step out of the women's bath. The collar of her yukata was yanked causing her to stumble. She turned back but found nothing. She continued her walk on alert before feeling an unnaturally cold breeze coming from the bathhouse entrance.
She sped back to the room and quickly slid the door shut. The door made a loud enough noise to have the three males in the room turn their heads.
"They weren't lying when they said this place is haunted," she announced to the crew. She explained what happened, much to the interest of Naru.
"We should have brought a camera with us."
Mai rolled her eyes. "Just use your phone. People post ghost sightings they took on their phones all the time."
Naru crossed his arms and considered her suggestion. She didn't want to admit it but the image of him sitting crossed-legged on the floor at a chabudai* with his arms crossed was kind of endearing.
He looked out of place in a traditional Japanese setting, which beckoned her to remember that he and Gene might be foreigners.
"I'm not inclined to believe any of these videos or pictures found online, but the idea of exploring the use of smartphones for gathering evidence is interesting."
She shared a look and a chuckle with John.
Dinner arrived soon after all the men came back from getting washed up. Naru seemed disconcerted about the lack of showers, but Lin was surprisingly resilient—John too. He was more fascinated than bothered by the cultural differences.
When their meal was finished and collected, Naru and Lin set themselves down to work while Mai and John went to explore.
John looked surprisingly charming in a yukata. The two walked the corridors to see the other facilities the hotel offered and eventually found themselves in the garden.
"Do you think they have koi?" She inched up to the pond warily due to her recent expenditures. She sighed in relief to find that it was quite shallow with only koi and catfish in it. Good, no corpses.
She made sure to take a few pictures to send to Keiko and Michiru who then teased her about being in an anime hot spring special with three attractive guys.
Firstly, there were no hot springs.
Secondly, this place was haunted.
Speaking of which, John tapped her shoulder. "Mai-san, is it me or are we being watched?" he said quietly, cautiously looking around.
Mai closed her eyes to focus but didn't feel anything significant. "We probably are, but I don't feel anything in particular?"
He didn't seem reassured at all by her answer. "This may sound strange, but I've had this feeling since we arrived."
"You sure you aren't psychic, John?" she teased.
"Absolutely sure," he laughed nervously.
Mai put a finger to her chin. "Well, I'm not as good as Masako, but I'll let you know if I feel anything."
"Thanks, Mai-san."
They walked more than half of the garden's perimeter before an idea popped into her head.
"Wait, you know what? There's this trend lately where people will take pictures of themselves at haunted places to see if they catch anything. Want to try it? Maybe we can catch what you're feeling."
He agreed with reluctance but still offered to take pictures of Mai first.
She posed in front of the fish pond as well as by various groups of flowers in the garden. When they reviewed the pictures, nothing was out of the ordinary except for the corniness of her poses. When it was John's turn, Mai thought it would be fun to record a video to document their work trip.
"Day 142 of working for SPR. Our van broke down while heading home from the Morishita house, so now we're stranded at a randomly nice but conveniently haunted hotel," she said as John awkwardly waved. "John feels like he's been watched since we got here a few hours ago. Why don't you show us around the garden?"
Poor John shyly walked them through for a few minutes of footage until Mai stopped the video. She took some candid pictures for good measure.
They reviewed the footage back in the room so that they wouldn't be disturbing the other guests any more than they already were. They both sat next to each other against the wall to watch what they got after their return.
If Naru was annoyed by their chatter and the constant replaying of the video, he didn't say.
At first, nothing was noted in their footage review—however, after their fourth run-through of the video, John noticed something odd.
"Mai-san, doesn't that look like something peeking out." He paused and pointed to what looked like a white figure peeking out from behind one of the shoji doors down the corridor. Then, later in the candid shots that Mai took, there was a transparent hand pinching the end of John's sleeve.
"No way! I can't believe we actually caught stuff! That totally looks like a girl's hand!" she exclaimed, holding the phone close to her face.
"Quiet down, Mai. There are other guests on either side of us," Naru sighed.
"Sorry, sorry, but I think John has a ghost stalker."
Chabudai* = a short Japanese table
A/N: Hi hi! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! It's the wrap-up before we jump right into the first original case—it's a short one that will likely only last one chapter. It feels filler-esque, but no worries, we'll be having some progression here. I also thought John and Mai deserved to have some bonding time haha! We don't get enough of him in the series!
I'm also happy to have that bit with Masako written. It won't make the most exponential change, but it does add a layer of friction to her relationship with both Mai and Naru, heh. Unlike Kuroda who was jealous of Masako, Mai looks up to her a lot for her expertise. She just needs to learn how to admire the medium without comparing herself too much.
Btw, I have some original art I made for this series (really, for GH in general), but I'm not sure how I want to share it. Beginning of a chapter, or the end? Or just give you guys my IG so you can see it there? I'm also a little bashful sharing my fanart—I usually share my art to a non-GH audience.
Anyways, thanks for reading guys! Every bit of love this story has gotten fills me with gratitude!
As usual, let me know what you think! Reading your thoughts makes my day!