A/N: Hi! Decided to update a night earlier than usual since I'm currently on vacation but really wanted to get this chapter up for y'all!

Also, the art dump has been updated again!

*As usual, warning for elements of suicide, torture, physical violence*

Previously…

Even if she didn't know Naru's real name, she had another name she could use to confirm her suspicions.

Just when she thought she had a lead, she was smacked in the face with thousands of people with the same name. Apparently, that was a common thing in the west.

After sifting through, she finally found what she needed after narrowing her search several times. It was in a research database where she found a study on perfect mediums from three years ago. Oliver Davis was cited as one of the researchers, and listed in the study subjects was—

Eugene Davis.

Case Five—Part 2

Mai felt her heart thump as Gene's full name stared back at her. When she started this search, she was doubtful that she would find the existence of a "Eugene Davis." Yet, here it was, nearly confirming her suspicion.

If Naru's lessons taught her anything, it was that she couldn't conclude anything yet—more info was still needed before she could draw any conclusions. Pulling up a new tab, she searched for "BSPR." From there, she narrowed her search until she found a page listing the members.

Her eyes widened as she scanned the page. Under founders was a "Martin Davis," who conveniently shared a given name with Naru and Gene's father. Even further under their services was an investigator named "Madoka Mori."

Interesting.

Her head spun as she tried to compute all the info that she had found. Maybe Naru and Gene were right when they said thinking too much would make her head implode.

As if they weren't the reasons for it!

Assuming Oliver Davis wasn't Naru, it was awfully coincidental that he knew a Eugene Davis, who was a medium just like Gene. It was also be very coincidental that "Martin Davis" shared the same name as Naru's father. The icing on the cake was how coincidental it was for Oliver Davis to work with a Madoka Mori just like her Naru did.

Very, very coincidental.

And say that Martin Davis was Naru's father, and Eugene Davis was Naru's brother, it only made sense that…

Naru was the real Oliver Davis.

.

She didn't know what came over her, but she needed a place to sort out her thoughts. Was this a creepy ass mansion with spirits in it of dubious intent? Yes. Was that going to stop her from walking around by herself? Nope. Not when she had a lot on her mind.

Intentionally pulling up her spiritual walls to prevent her spirit guides from intruding on her thoughts, she scurried to another room not far from base or her bedroom. She had some sense to find a room with a camera and mic. After all, they were her insurance during stunts like this.

Turning on the lights in the drawing room, Mai leaned against the door and rested her head back.

It was official. Naru was Oliver Davis.

The Oliver Davis.

The one who assisted with crime investigations at age 11, who could lift and throw a 200-lb aluminum ball using only PK, who published what could be considered the paranormal researcher's "bible," who earned himself an honorary doctorate and lecturer's position at a prestigious university, and who was now a business owner by age 17.

But that wasn't the Oliver Davis she knew.

The Oliver she knew secretly only ate apples when she cut them like bunnies, liked his tea steeped for an extra two minutes, who particularly hated Shin-chan memes, who traveled into the snowy mountains in the middle of the night to save her life, whose soul was bonded to hers and could now hear her thoughts, who she had relived the childhood of, who had always been so surprisingly kind, and who she knew so personally yet didn't know at all.

She sighed, closing her eyes.

Whenever it felt like she was a step closer to him, there was always something that set her two steps back.

Perhaps, that was how it was supposed to be. After all, she was just Taniyama Mai—a random girl he hired while in Japan trying to find his dead twin. Compared to his accomplishments, she was just a fledgling whether it was in smarts, looks, or psychic prowess.

They lived in different worlds.

He was from the UK, had a supportive family, and was well off enough to be able to support his pursuits.

Her? She lived a Japanese lifestyle with only herself to rely on, and had been pinching pennies up until he hired her.

Was she being ridiculous comparing apples to apples? Probably, but was she wrong? No. Regardless, he was still her friend, even if it felt like another wall had come between them—or, rather, that she finally noticed the wall that had been there all along.

But why was she so fixated on it now, when she had already known Naru had been hiding his name? Well, if his name was Oliver Smith, she definitely wouldn't have cared as much.

The weight of his true name and the accomplishments behind it were the deciding factors.

The feelings she had couldn't even be considered anger. Rather, it was something closer to betrayal… that neither him nor Gene trusted her enough with the information. Sure, they had their reasons, but if they were friends like she had thought, then couldn't they have confided in her? Okay, sometimes she had trouble being discreet, but this would have been a secret she would've brought to her grave.

And was this the secret Masako had been in on the whole time while everyone else was left in the dark? For some reason, that bothered her more, but she wasn't about to admit it. Not even to herself.

Suddenly, a knock on the door against her back surprised her. She jumped off and turned around, expecting it to open, revealing whoever it was.

Nothing.

Then, another knock came. A bad feeling crept up in her gut. If internet ghost stories taught her anything, if something knocked on the door at night and you weren't sure who or what it was, don't open the door.

"Who is it?" she squeezed out.

"It's me," said Naru- no, Oliver's voice.

Not exactly the person she wanted to see right now, but it was better than being with a ghost. Sighing, she opened the door—

To find no one.

Her stomach sank and she quickly stepped back. Then, the abrupt sound of dripping liquid from down the hallway ran her instincts into high gear. The sound grew increasingly louder like it was getting closer. Her breath quickened as she ran through her options.

Stay here and get cornered by whatever it was.

Or, risk running down the hallway toward base.

Fighting was not on her agenda that night and she wasn't about to encounter something one-on-one while cornered in this room. Steeling herself, she left the room as casually as she could to pretend that she wasn't scared. But as the sounds became louder, the drips changing to splats, she hastened into a speed walk.

Clutching her mirror for dear life, she mouthed Usa-sama's prayer over and over until something blew against the back of her head. Whipping around in alarm, she stared with wide eyes down the hallway. Goosebumps trailed up her arms as she gulped, realizing the splats had stopped. A subtle breeze brought the scent of blood to her nose. If that wasn't alarming enough, what was once as a lit-up area, was now shrouded in darkness. The shadows almost appearing to inch toward her.

"I.. don't… want… to die…"

Mai's breath hitched; a scream trapped in her throat.

Despite her myriad of past experiences, something in this mansion petrified her—like it knew she was aware of its presence.

Shaking, she took a few unsteady steps backward, not ready to turn her back to it just yet. Two grayish-white apparitions began to form at the other end of the hall, like clouds of mist. They approached slowly, forming into human-like structures with arms and legs.

And that was her cue to book it.

She ran as fast as her feet could take her toward base, glancing back to track the figures as they moved at an inhuman speed toward her. The closer they got, the more their forms sharpened. The white turned out to be what looked like surgeon jackets. What surgery they were doing, she was not keen on finding out.

Just as she attempted to run faster, something tugged on her hair multiple times. She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting to be yanked back and dragged into the darkness.

Instead, she collided with something corporeal.

"Eep!" Her face meeting with someone's chest. Someone who smelled of tea, peppermint, and cologne.

"What are you doing?" The real Naru asked.

At a loss for words, all she could do was look back down hallway, expecting to see the two apparitions that were at her tail.

They were gone.

The swell of emotions from earlier coupled by the chase had her legs nearly giving out. She stumbled into Naru who held her steady. Her arms shook as she recalled the dream from the van. Her pursuers must have been the same white figures the spirit had been chased by. What would have happened if they caught her? The spirit in the dream had been so frightened that she had rather jumped off the balcony than be caught.

"Mai, what happened?"

Mai inched her head up to look at him in shock. Her eyes met his as tears, that she didn't even know were there, made their escape.

She opened her mouth but didn't know where to start. Or rather, how to start. Between her discovery of his identity and the scariest ghost chase she'd ever experienced, she was mentally drained.

Instead of words, all her body would allow her was a choked sob.

Latching onto his dress shirt for dear life, she hid her face in his chest as she cried. He went rigid, freezing up at her sudden contact. She was grateful he didn't push her away, letting her have her moment. He owed her at least this much.

Eventually, he relaxed, the tension releasing from his body. What surprised her was the gentle—albeit reluctant—hand that slid on to the small of her back.

After a few minutes, her crying died down to a sniffle, but she couldn't dare pull herself away lest she face the embarrassment of the situation. His shirt no doubt had a giant wet mark from her tears and snot. She allowed herself a few more moments to sniffle into his chest, relishing in the moment selfishly.

"Sorry…" she mumbled.

She heard him sigh. "Do you feel better now?" he asked, the vibration of his voice against her ear.

She nodded, sniffling again. "Naru?"

"What?"

She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Why didn't you tell me you were Oliver Davis?"

Oliver's eyes widened. She had figured it out after all.

Sliding both his hands onto her arms, he gently pulled her away. Her eyes were still glassy as they blinked up at him, her cheeks pink. He almost found it hard to look at her but quickly shook away the feeling. While this wasn't his first time dealing with a crying female, it was his first time dealing with Mai crying.

"We should talk elsewhere," he said, taking her wrist and leading her to a room adjacent to the base. Once the door was closed, he turned to her. "Why would you think I'm Oliver Davis?"

She blinked in confusion for a moment, not expecting him to question her. Her eyes hardened.

"Doesn't it seem odd a teenager is running a ghost hunting business with professional equipment and a background in research?" she challenged, sniffling.

"I could merely be an enthusiast with a high enough IQ and good sponsors. Or a genius."

They knew both parts were correct.

She continued to stand her ground, only breaking her façade for another sniffle. "Not to mention that you're a foreigner. I can tell from your memories that you obviously don't live here. You also write all your notes in English."

So, she noticed that too.

Sniffle.

Oliver sighed, reaching into his pocket for his handkerchief before dropping it on her head.

He leaned back against the wall and crossed his arms as she fumbled with it.

After drying her face, she joined him against the wall, mumbling a quiet "thank you" before continuing with her argument.

"I found out Gene's full given name a while ago, but I wanted to confirm if a 'Eugene Davis' existed. Good thing you were so active in the research world because I found one of your studies."

"Eugene Davis is a common name."

"Is it also common for perfect mediums to be named 'Eugene Davis?' Or related to Oliver and Martin Davis of BSPR?" Mai stared him down, unrelenting. "Also, bit of a coincidence that Madoka-san works for BSPR too?"

Oliver knew when he had lost, though it wasn't often.

He was genuinely impressed that she figured out as much as she did. Although, it wasn't hard to complete research using a search engine. The key was knowing what details to look for. It seemed that she used a mixture of both inductive and deductive research. While it wasn't professional by any stretch of the imagination, he acknowledged her growth.

"Are you angry?" he asked, not exactly sure why he was asking. Whether she was mad or not didn't matter.

…Right?

Mai looked away in favor of playing with the edge of her shirt—a habit she did when nervous, uncertain, or bashful.

She shook her head, lowering her voice. "Yes, and no," she started, tucking her stray hairs behind her usual ear. "I just- I know you had your reasons to disguise yourself so I get why you lied. But… I still feel hurt. I thought you and Gene would have trusted me enough to tell me."

Oliver kept his gaze across the room. He would be lying if he said he wasn't taken-aback by her words. If she wasn't mad about him lying, then why did she care about it so much?

He answered in the only way her could. "The easiest and most efficient way to keep it a secret was to cover our tracks to prevent anyone from finding out."

"Like with Masako?" she mumbled, barely audible. "You could trust her to keep your secret?"

He exhaled, feeling his patience now stretching. "Hara-san and I have a particular situation, but I don't feel the need to explain it."

Mai huffed. "That's just it. You don't really understand why I'm upset, do you?"

He didn't know the best way to respond, so he opted to not say anything at all. She didn't need his input to share her thoughts.

"I thought we were friends. Or, well, at least I consider you my friend," she began, actively controlling her breathing. "Friends listen and confide in each other. They share their worries and burdens. I'm not saying you have to tell me your whole life story, but I wished you trusted me more to share your worries."

Oliver glanced at her, meeting her eyes. While his face remained mostly unchanged, it felt like his voice was stuck in his throat for the first time in his life. Why was he so shocked to hear her say that?

Probably because that was the first time anyone had ever declared him their friend.

According to Gene, Oliver technically considered her a friend too, however loose that label was.

Building relationships had never been easy for him since childhood. He much preferred to read and learn rather than to interact with others, especially when he saw no benefit. In simpler terms, he didn't know how to be a friend. No one had ever demanded that of him before.

"I've never had anyone expect this of me."

"…You've never had a friend before?" she asked slowly, her eyebrows raising in surprise.

"No. Most people aren't worth my time and irritate me."

She stared at him blankly before feeling the corner of her mouth twitch. "Of course, you would say that. Why should I expect any less?" She rocked onto the heels of her feet. "But I suppose you sharing that with me is one step forward."

"I don't understand what you gain from being friends with me? I can't offer the comfort or advice that you need."

She shrugged. "That doesn't matter to me. You're you, Naru. You show kindness in other ways. Plus, we've spent enough time together that it'd be hard not to be friends. I'm pretty sure the others consider you a friend too, y'know."

Well, that was news to him.

He didn't know what he did to garner this. In all fairness, the irregulars weren't quite pumpkins anymore either, except maybe Matsuzaki depending on the situation.

Before he could say anything, Mai interrupted, "Don't think about it too much or you'll give yourself a headache, you idiot scientist," she joked, a small smile adorning her face.

She stepped forward, turning around to face him head on. "With that said, I think I understand things a little better. Just know that you can rely on me," she said, nodding her head slightly with determination on her face. "No matter how we look at it, I'm in too deep already."

Her last statement wasn't exactly incorrect.

He watched her for a few moments longer, causing her face to get pinker as she looked around the room awkwardly.

Finally, she cleared her throat before heading for the door. "I guess we should head to bed. I'm beat."

Without thinking, he said, "I'll walk you."

She glanced back at him in surprise.

He cleared his throat, averting his gaze. "I did say that we should travel in pairs or more. Which you obviously forgot, considering your escapade just now."

"What about you? You have to walk back to base."

He held up the pen she gifted him. "I have this."

Her eyes widened in recognition. He wasn't sure why she was so surprised to see it, but he didn't have any more energy that night to figure out anything more about Taniyama Mai.

She sent him a look he couldn't quite decipher before quickly turning around, almost as if to hide her face.

"Okay, let's go."

When Mai woke up at her desk in the astral office later that night, she expected to see Gene and Usa-sama on the couch like they usually were, yet the two were nowhere to be found. She had a lot of questions to ask and it was awfully convenient that Gene chose now to go missing.

"Eugene Davis!"

…Silence…

She slowly surveyed the area, her footsteps being the only noise to disturb the quiet. How ironic that it was she who was now on the other side of the predator-prey equation.

Suddenly, the sound of something tearing and then munching alerted her to Naru's office, specifically, his closet.

She heard frustrated whispering, something on the lines of, "You choose now to chew cardboard?"

She marched right up and swung the closet door open. "Aha!" Inside was Gene cramped in the corner with Usa-sama next to him chewing a random sliver of cardboard he ripped from a nearby box. The deity looked wholly unapologetic about it too.

Mai crossed her arms, a single brow raised. She moved to the side and gestured for him to come out, which he did with a slump to his form and a reluctant rabbit deity in his arms.

He plopped into Naru's office chair. "Before you say anything," he started. "I just want to say that I saw that entire hug montage!" He pointed a finger at her with a catty grin.

She slapped his finger away with a blushing glare. "I thought I shut you out?!"

"Out of your thoughts you did! I got worried so I checked up on you as a ghost," he said, laughing evilly.

"That takes a lot of energy for you. Were you actually worried, or just being nosy?"

Gene's face suddenly turned serious. "This place is dangerous. I had a hard time finding you here—it's like a maze for spirits. And there's so many of them here."

"Like the Winchester mansion," Mai noted, bringing a hand to her chin.

"I honestly think you guys should just drop this case and get the hell out. There's something really nasty here. Usa-sama and I have been having a hard time trying to get to the root of this place, but whatever it is, it's pure evil."

"We can't just leave. This was Madoka-san's request."

Gene shook his head with an eye roll. "She was just being nosy about the imposter Oliver Davis but didn't want to come here herself since she's publicly known for working with Noll."

She thought about how Gene's pronunciation of Naru's nickname sounded a bit different but didn't question it. "So, it made more sense to send the real thing?"

He grinned. "Makes things more interesting, no?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "Figures."

Realizing Gene was distracting her from her true objective, she mustered up the sternest look she could. "Anyway, if you saw us in the hallway earlier, did you hear our conversation after?"

"Nope. Even I know when to butt out. Did things get saucy?"

She really wanted to kick him.

"Gene."

He smiled apologetically.

"My conversation with Naru went much better than this is right now." She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Sorry, sorry."

"Anyways, I was upset because I thought we were friends enough, at least for you, to confide in me about your identities. I could have helped cover things up or something."

Gene scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I get that. I don't really have any good excuses. I wanted to respect Noll's choice to hide his identity. Trust me, there were plenty of times I wanted to blurt it all out just to be done with it."

She mentally sighed. Why was it so hard to be angry at these twins?

"If it counts for anything, friendship is something Noll is still learning," he said, a gentle smile on his face. "So, hope you weren't too hard on him."

She blew into her bangs. "I wasn't," she said, tracing her fingers along the desk. "Honestly, it felt like we sorta took a step forward—together this time, like he actually heard me."

"That's great." He grinned, offering her a thumbs up.

Mai nodded before bashfully tracing her finger on the top of Naru's desk. "So, on that note… I hope you'll also feel comfortable confiding in me. It's no fun complaining one-sidedly all the time," she said, smiling.

His eyes softened. "Will do."

Mai nodded her head in triumph. "Good!" She then gave Usa-sama a few pets, saying, "And I can't forget the divine protection of the great Usa-sama. Thanks for keeping me safe."

In turn, the deity gave her a nod and a few licks to her hand.

"Anyways, I should get some real sleep now."

Before she could pull herself out, Gene stopped her. "Be extra careful. There's something else at play that I'd rather not discover. Remember, Usa-sama can only protect you so much. You have to play your part in keeping yourself out of trouble."

"I'll try my best!"

The rabbit in question looked as skeptical as a rabbit deity could but humored her anyway.

Mai left her astral space soon after, falling into a deep sleep.

During a period of light sleep, she awoke to the sound of water dripping in the bathroom. She tried ignoring it but it got annoying quickly when it was the only noise to disrupt the quiet.

Sighing, she got out of bed, grumbling something about Ayako not turning off the faucet all the way. Used to walking around her apartment in the dark, she casually strolled in and tightened the nozzles at the sink. And yet, the dripping continued. This time, sounding like dripping into a pool of water.

She slowly turned to the bathtub, getting a bad feeling. She had no reason to believe anything was behind the curtain, but the amount of horror movies she'd watched taught her otherwise. Cautiously, she inched over before taking one large inhale and yanking the curtain open.

Floating in the bathtub was an emaciated old man as he floated atop a pool of blood, only the whites of his eyes visible. Before she could react, his eyes rolled back, making direct eye contact with her.

And then she shot herself up in bed, hyperventilating as she looked around the room. Sunlight filtered through, illuminating areas that the black out curtains couldn't cover.

"It was just a… dream," she said, trying to convince herself.

She couldn't be any more thankful that it was the morning. She'd had enough excitement.

The rest of the day came without any other disturbances, thankfully. It consisted of helping Lin with mapping, taking temperatures, setting up more equipment, and completing walkthroughs.

When Mai arrived at the base midday, she was surprised—yet not—to find Masako had already prepared tea for Naru. She even embellished the cup with questionably cut fruits. Mai couldn't help but giggle at the thought that Masako had never cut fruit before, likely having a maid or her mother do it.

It was kind of cute.

Since Mai wasn't in the mood for Earl Grey, she dragged Ayako with her to make green tea. They had free reign of this wing's kitchen, so they also prepared some snacks. Ayako was the queen of fancy snacks, having brought some European chocolates and different colored rice crackers. A weird combo, but for coworkers who always acted like they were starving, it did the job.

After watching Bou-san and Yasu destroy the snack plates, Ayako suggested that Mai learn how to make paper talismans as a layer to her defenses. It was a good idea since Mai's usual methods required mental concentration, which she couldn't always muster up when she was scared out of her wits.

While her brush calligraphy could use some work—okay, a lot work—the premise was like how she made the Christmas charms. She imbued her will and intention into the talismans, praying to her deity of choice. Ayako prayed to the tree spirits and Shinto gods of nature, and Mai naturally prayed to her guardian deity.

As part of the lesson, Ayako had her create a hundred talismans, which the two would split half and half.

"Are you sure you want to use the ones I made?" Mai asked as she handed Ayako fifty talismans. "You don't get a warranty with free stuff, just saying."

Ayako flicked her in the forehead.

"Ow!"

"Do you trust this Usa-sama of yours?"

"Of course."

"Then it's fine." Ayako gave her a confident smile, inspecting the brush work on each one. "I trust you and your deity as well."

Mai tilted her head in question. "So, as long as someone believes in Usa-sama, they can use these?"

"No, only priestesses can."

"Then, how come I can use them?"

Ayako casually checked out her nails, saying offhandedly, "Technically, you're some sort of priestess."

"I'm a what now?!"

Just in time for her outburst, the base door opened as the other members flooded in.

"What's going on now?" asked Bou-san, his brow quirked in curiosity. He, John, and Masako joined them at their corner of the table as the other members moved around them. Yasu followed Naru around with a tablet in hand while Lin checked the cameras.

"Ayako thinks I'm some kind priestess! There's no way!" Mai shook her head in denial. She was nothing like what she envisioned a priestess to be like. Hiroko, the guardian of Usa-sama's shrine, came to mind.

Bou-san assumed a thinking pose as he leaned onto the edge of the table. "I can see it. Obviously, you're not an officially trained one, but in some ways you are. You communicate with a deity regularly, protect his vessel, and utilize his power for protection," he said, shrugging. "You've also kind of helped with broadening his reach." He lifted the charm she gave him for Christmas.

John nodded. "Not to mention that your method of defense is through prayer."

"I guess…" she said, still unconvinced. "When I think of a priestess, though, I think of someone more soft and reserved."

Bou-san scoffed, jutting a thumb in Ayako's direction. "Does this one look anything like 'soft and reserved' to you? I don't think so. You're fine, Jou-chan!"

Ayako snapped her head in his direction and glared. "Who are you referring to as 'this?'"

While the two squabbled, Masako said with a smirk, "I can't imagine you as a priestess either. You're not nearly graceful enough and much too boorish."

Mai blinked in disbelief at the straight disrespect, watching as Masako gave her a smug look. "You want to see boorish? I'll show you boorish!" Picking up her dirty calligraphy brush, she went in for the kill, ignoring John's futile attempts to calm everyone down.

Before she could draw on Masako's face, who was trying to shield herself, Naru cleared this throat. Her hand froze mid-air while Ayako and Bou-san stopped mid-argument.

"This is not a daycare. If you're not here to work, then you can escort yourselves home," he said, his face wholly unamused.

That quickly quelled the turbulence and everyone returned to work without as much as another peep.

It wasn't until after dinner that Igarashi-sensei invited everyone to attend a séance. Naturally, Yasu took Naru's spot.

While he appeared calm and collected like this was a normal occurrence for him, Mai knew better. According to the mess of jumbled screaming texts she got, she figured he was freaking out inside. She couldn't tell if it was from excitement or fear, though.

"Look, it's Dr. Davis," Ayako whispered to John and Bou-san behind her. "Dr. Davis" was already seated at the table.

Mai turned around to poke Bou-san in the stomach. "Don't gawk."

Because he's not the real Davis.

"Could someone lower the lights?" Igarashi-sensei asked to whomever was able.

"Oh, if the lights are too low, we won't be able to capture as much," said Minami, holding up his phone.

He's gonna take a video with his phone? They might have good cameras nowadays but come on.

Rightfully so, Igarashi-sensei was not impressed. "Are you filming with your smartphone? I thought when you said you were recording footage, it would be with a night vision camera. There will only be a single candle lit during the séance."

Minami looked genuinely surprised, muttering a single, "Oh."

Naru wasted no time, sharing a look with Yasu. "Shall I retrieve one of ours, Boss?"

"Please. Thank you, Narumi-kun."

Mai fought the urge to giggle at the interaction.

After everything was finally set up, Yasu sat down with the other relevant folk at the round table. They all held hands in a circle, only broken by Suzuki, Igarashi-sensei's assistant, who had a hand free in order to write the spirits' messages.

"We reach out to the spirits of this mansion. If you would like to speak with us, please use this woman to express your will."

After a few minutes and nothing happened, Igarashi-sensei repeated it again twice.

This time, a breeze swept over the room and the candle in the middle nearly blew out before reigniting unnaturally. Masako's body language shifted before a series of loud banging on the walls and ceiling alarmed everyone. Immediately following, Suzuki flew into rapid writing. She wrote two pages per second, flinging the finished sheets onto the floor.

Everyone watched in fearsome awe as she worked at an inhuman speed, quickly running through the pile of papers.

The banging intensified, now sounding suspiciously close to those standing around the perimeter of the room. Minami freaked out and stood up, knocking his chair back in the process.

"Minami-san, you must calm down!" Igarashi-sensei instructed to no avail.

Meanwhile, Mai's stomach dropped as she felt an unfamiliar presence accompanied by the faint scent of blood. Whatever this thing was, it was no ordinary spirit.

"Something's here!" she called out to alert everyone.

Another set of bangs from the ceiling causing the chandelier to swing vigorously, setting the fear of it falling on those below it.

"Naumaku sanmanda bazaradan kan!" Bou-san announced firmly, adopting the seal of the Immovable One. The turbulence stopped and everything went silent once again. Someone quickly turned on the lights, revealing the mess of papers scattered on the floor.

"Help" was written on nearly every single sheet until Bou-san found an outlier. The sheet read, "I don't want to die" in red ink.

But Suzuki had only been using a black marker.

The group reviewed the footage caught by SPR's camera, revealing that the page had fallen to the floor before the writing appeared—Suzuki hadn't written on it. They replayed the footage over and over, thoroughly studying the frames where the writing appeared without explanation.

Freaky stuff.

When everyone separated for the night, Mai quickly got ready and nuzzled into her bed. Ayako claimed the bathroom last since her rigorous skin care demanded aromatherapy and some kind of mud scrub.

Unfortunately, that left Mai and Masako to enjoy each other's presence in silence.

Awkward.

"So..." Mai attempted to break the tension. "Have you sensed anything else since we got here?"

Masako regarded her with a disinterested look before replying, "There's easily hundreds of spirits in this building. It's quite difficult to pinpoint any one spirit. They're all crying in agony."

"Did they say what they died from? Or why they're here?"

"They seem to be mute. It's almost as if their voices have been cut off."

Mai looked down thoughtfully, her eyebrows scrunching in thought. "Can they show you through visions instead?"

Masako shook her head. "I'm not that type of medium. I communicate through telepathy and feelings," she said, studying Mai sharply. "However, you seem to be able to do what I can't. Have you seen anything?"

Mai bit her lip, unsure if the dream she had would be any help at the vague stage that it was. "Kinda, but it doesn't make sense right now."

Masako stayed silent and nodded, prompting her to continue.

"In the dream, I was running away from something in this mansion. Two white figures, I think. I don't know what they were trying to do, but the spirit ended up committing suicide rather than let them catch her," she recounted, a finger to her chin. "And that's it."

"I see. Nothing useful then," Masako said, sticking her nose up.

Mai scoffed. The audacity…!

"Okay, out with it. What's with the sudden attitude lately?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"Oh, please! You know exactly what I'm talking about."

Masako turned away with a huff. "I simply don't like you. Isn't that reason enough?"

Mai rolled her eyes. "You were annoying before, but now-"

"Glad to see you ladies are getting along well," Ayako said, coming out of the bathroom. She looked between the two teenagers with smirk.

"As if I could ever get along with someone like her," Masako said before sinking under her blankets and slipping on her sleep mask in protest.

"And what's that supposed to mean?!"

No reply.

Such a brat! Mai huffed and also sank under her blankets, turning away from the eyesore.

Ayako sighed, shaking her head.

Mai heard her footsteps lead back into the bathroom, likely to finish her routine. After the door clicked closed, Mai drifted off to sleep not long after, feeling her other-sense being tugged.

The next she opened her eyes, she found herself in a dark void of the astral plane. A sense of urgency overwhelmed her, the pounding of her heart hastening as she stared into the darkness. Not sure where to go, she followed her instincts. Eventually, the space shifted until it took the appearance of a hedge maze. What was odd was that the maze appeared to be underground.

Or maybe inside somehow, seeing as it looked liked there were walls surrounding the area.

Weird.

As fate would have it, she ended up landing herself right in the middle of the maze. She was never good with mazes as a kid—the memory of her crying in the middle of one during an elementary school fieldtrip reared its unwelcome head. The one good thing was that she was in spirit form, so she could technically walk through everything.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps alarmed her. Multiple footsteps. And the sound of someone struggling. The voice sounded eerily like Igarashi-sensei's assistant, Suzuki.

Taking a deep breath, she floated through the maze to find the source of the noise.

She froze.

It was the two surgeons she'd seen. This time in more detail. They wore surgical masks to cover their faces and had black holes for eyes. They held onto each of Suzuki's arms, forcing her through the maze as if they'd gone through many times.

Suzuki cried as she tried to shake out of their hold, a cloth tied around her mouth to keep her from yelling.

Mai covered her own mouth to keep from yelling, unsure of what to do—what she could do. Would they be able to see her? What if they caught her too?

She was in spirit form, though. Maybe in an ideal world, they couldn't do anything to her? But assuming they were dead, then she was fair game.

The only way to know was to find out.

Following them from behind, she readied her hand in preparation for the nine-cuts. It was a bit hard to do when they were moving but she had to try. Whispering the cuts to herself, she aimed the final cut at the figure closest to her, slashing it into oblivion and freeing Suzuki on one side.

When Suzuki tried to break free of the other figure, she was struck on the back of the head, knocking her unconscious.

Shit.

The remaining figure wasted no time, continuing to drag her toward the decrepit building at the end of the maze. A swirl of mist began to reform, taking on the shape of the other figure she'd destroyed.

"They can regenerate?!" she whisper-screamed to herself. Feeling around at her pockets for any objects she could use, she found a few of the talismans she made earlier. It was no charm but maybe it could ward those things away from Suzuki in the meantime. Using the nine-cuts again on each figure, she quickly ran over before they regenerated.

She folded up her talisman and stuck it in Suzuki's pocket, offering an impromptu prayer to Usa-sama.

Before she had the chance to do anything else, her spirit was tugged harshly back toward her body. As she was pulled, she saw the two surgeons' mists reforming.

Please be okay! She called out one last time, lethargy overwhelming her as everything went black.

Oliver stared unamused at his phone as Madoka's texts popped up one by one, all in their emoji and "xx" galore.

He had merely requested her assistance with research, and she sent walls of texts in return. Granted, a lot of the content was his mother's prying, but he couldn't fathom why Luella couldn't just ask him these questions directly.

Then again, the questions were quite… specific, and Luella probably knew the likelihood of him willingly answering them was slim to none.

Closing his eyes and exhaling deeply, he turned the phone faced down. He could worry about their shenanigans later. Approaching the monitors, he stood next to Lin who was still working on the floor plan. The building was expansive yet somehow structurally sound despite the abstract renovations.

"I can standby," said Lin, turning around to face Oliver.

This was Lin's version of encouraging him to go to sleep, knowing full well that he would decline. Lin had to tell Madoka and Luella that he made some sort of effort, after all.

Footsteps in one of the corridors alerted the two's attention to the monitors.

At first, there was nothing amiss. Then, Mai appeared on three different monitors as she walked through the hallway. Initially, they both thought she was heading for the bathroom, but the last time Oliver caught her walking through the halls by herself, she ended up colliding into him later looking like something was out to kill her.

It wasn't until she turned the next corner that he maximized the nearest camera, zooming in. His hunch was right—something was off about her. She appeared to be sleepwalking yet also sobbing heavily.

The sight reminded him of her crying the night before. Oliver scrunched his brows, the corners of his mouth turning down slightly.

Mai continued her trek down the hall, approaching the indoor balcony and the main staircase. Where was she going?

Rather than going down the staircase, she stopped a few meters from the balcony. Her back to the camera now with her face blocked from view.

Uneasiness crept into the pit of his stomach.

Without a word to Lin, he sprinted out of the base and down the hallway. He rounded two more corners before he caught sight of her at the other end of the hall.

…Attempting to climb the railing.

There was no time to think, he sped down the hall faster than he knew he could, nearly throwing himself at the railing. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she teetered off, forcing them both backwards.

His back hit the wall with a thud followed by her weight nearly knocking the wind out of him. They both slid down to the floor as he caught his breath, slumping over her as she rested against his chest unmoving.

She's going to drive me crazy.

When Mai eventually returned to her body, the familiar scent of peppermint tea and cologne hit her nose. Being half-asleep, she didn't pay it much mind. More importantly, why did her butt hurt? She didn't remember the mattress being this hard before.

She squeezed her eyes, noting the wetness on her face. Had she been that scared that she cried in her sleep? She tried to bring up a hand to wipe her face but found that her arm was trapped under something. Blinking her eyes open, she was perplexed to find that she was in the hallway somewhere. She scanned the area, further surprised to find a head of black hair against her cheek.

If she hadn't been awake earlier, she certainly was now.

Looking down, she saw two long legs on either side of her and arms wrapped around her waist.

Her heart both dropped and pounded at the same time as she tried to understand how they ended up in that position.

She's going to drive me crazy.

Mai blinked, wondering if she was hearing things. Was that Gene talking? No, the voice was deeper, like Naru's.

Was she so far gone that she was hearing his voice now?

"Naru?"

He didn't answer immediately, instead continuing to rest his head against her shoulder.

"Just be quiet for a minute," he said, his voice vibrating against her body, sending goosebumps up her spine.

She couldn't tell if she should be mad that her body reacted so viscerally to his touch.

But maybe she was further gone than she thought.

A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed the NaruMai this chapter! They're officially (reciprocated) friends now after 22 chapters of bullshit LMAO

Also, I've decided that I'm not going to do the Ghost Children case for story pacing reasons—ngl, I just wanna find Gene. To make up for it, this current case will be more involved than the OG while still maintaining some of the aspects that made Ghost Children case unique (some elements of which have already been addressed in this AU).*

Thank you to those who reread the fic and left comments! Those really brightened up my day :')

If you enjoyed reading, please consider leaving a review (on any fic you read) to help keep writers doing their thing! It's always appreciated