A/N: Happy early chapter update! Rather than waiting for this weekend, thought I'd get it out to you sooner since it was ready :) Enjoy~!

Case Six—Part 1

The next day, Mai woke up in her bed without any recollection of how she got there. The last thing she remembered was watching TV with Naru at the kotatsu. It was some talk show where the hosts watched obviously fake ghost footage. She had rested her head onto her arms, content in the moment. Before she knew it, her eyes had fluttered shut.

She even slept through the night without any dreams or a peep out of her astral companions.

Stretching, she got ready for the day and organized with Bou-san to meet at Yamada-san's house for the exorcism. Seeing as it would be their last step, Naru didn't need to be there.

And it turned out that removing Anju's energy was surprisingly easy.

Yura being out was probably the main factor—she had her own plans and didn't really want to be there for the exorcism anyway. Since Tsumugi was the anchor for Anju, after she moved on and Yura was off the premises, the energy had nothing to anchor itself to. It gave very little resistance to the point that Mai wondered if Ayako would've been enough after all.

It left the question of whether the Anju was aware of what she'd been doing. Gene tried to be nice by saying that it was probably something Anju did subconsciously. It was rare for someone to know they possessed PK-LT. Though, that didn't explain the severity of Anju's resentment.

"Well, she was only human," reasoned Mai. Who knew, the lack of control of her powers may have deranged her mind as well.

Winter and spring flew by within the blink of an eye.

Mai finished her second year of high school feeling stumped about her career planning. At the beginning of her first year, she had written "teacher" as her potential career of choice. Now, she wasn't so sure. Regardless, she was still working toward those scholarships so she could study abroad for a year. So, maybe she didn't need to decide right away? Yasu and John mentioned that students sometimes traveled abroad to complete their general education credits before taking classes for their major.

It wasn't so much a strategy for their education as much as it was a way to see more of the world as a student.

Thank Usa-sama for those two. For the last half of her second year and into the summer, Yasu helped her study while completing his own classwork. When he wasn't available, John was a great asset, especially with English and history assignments. And when John wasn't available, she unfortunately had to trek into Naru's office for help with her English… to which he promptly criticized her phonics and sentence structure.

If he was a strict ghost hunting instructor, he was a menace as an English teacher.

There was one time when Bou-san came to hang out at the office. He and Mai had been "humming and hawing" at several of her math problems. Naru had just happened to prance out of his office to collect a file when he caught the two defeated on the couch. Bou-san pulled him over for a second opinion only to reveal that—

Naru couldn't read hiragana for shit. Well, anything more than select words in a sentence.

In retaliation for his English lessons, Mai mocked him for not understanding basic sentence structure. True to his petty genius, Naru proceeded to annihilate them by writing out the exact calculations using just the values and the diagrams given.

"Well damn, Naru-bou. You're smart," Bou-san said as he scrunched his eyes down at the notebook, trying to make sense of Naru's concise and crisp calculations.

"I thought that was obvious." Naru gave a hint of a smug smirk before retreating to the recesses of his lair.

Mai stuck her tongue out. "Show off."

Thanks to the efforts of her friends, she passed her exams with high marks. Not Todai-top-placer high, but high enough that she went out for ice cream every day for the following two weeks.

While Mai's last half of the year was eventful, Naru hardly had anything to write home about—other than the fact that Mai's neighborhood ghost cat had taken a liking to him. He hadn't realized it at the time, but after leaving out food for it the last time he was at Mai's apartment, it ended up following him home.

As someone who wasn't a medium, he had failed to notice until Masako dropped by the office one day.

While having tea with him, her eyes kept drifting down toward the floor.

"It appears you've been followed," she said, a curious glint in her eye. "By a cat to be precise."

Rather than being surprised, he pulled out his notebook. "What does it look like?"

"It's a black cat with turquoise eyes. It must have been a stray that starved to death," said Masako said, her sleeve covering her frown.

"Does it appear emaciated?"

She shook her head. "It does not, surprisingly. It's not a normal spirit, but I don't sense evil either. I would just be aware of your surroundings." As Naru scribbled down her observations, she lured the cat over with a hand to pet it. It sniffed her fingers before brushing its head against her hand.

"Interesting," she started to say. "I would treat this spirit like any other cat. Leave out food, treats, and toys."

"Why?"

Masako didn't reply at first, just watching his reaction before giving a small smile. "I'm no Mai, but call it my intuition."

And from that day forth, Naru was blessed with a pet ghost cat. Even if he couldn't see it, he took much interest in studying it. Per the word of Japan's celebrity medium, he left out luxury cat food and treats in his hotel suite. Having no idea what cats played with, he had Lin do some research. They decided on a small cat tower and a few squeak-able mice.

He didn't like to admit it, but it was fascinating to hear the mice be moved around, or to find that his offerings had been eaten. He kept daily observations in his notebook.

It progressed to the point that he kept a water and food dish in the SPR office as well as a yarn ball that he marked the movements of with painter's tape.

"It must really like you," Mai said one day as she sat backwards in one of his lounge chairs, Usa-sama sitting on the coffee table. She had her cheek resting in her hand on the back of the chair. Her eyes followed the ghost cat as it pawed at the yarn ball, disinterested. "It kind of reminds me of you in cat form. Frown and everything."

Naru ignored her, continuing to type his report.

She then chuckled, likely from some comment Gene made. "Gene asked if you named it."

"No."

"Aw, poor kitty. Can we name it then?"

"We" being Mai and his nosy twin from the afterlife. He paused his work, glancing over as she turned around to look at him. He sighed. "Fine."

A few names were then thrown around and immediately shot down, such as Nori, Fuwafuwa (Fluffy), Marmite-san, Shoyu, and the Earl of Kensington.

In the end, they agreed on the simple, "Jiji."

Naru rubbed at his nose bridge. "Mai."

"Hm?"

"Your break has been over for ten minutes now."

Summer started off smoothly with small intermittent cases. It wasn't until mid-summer came around when Yoshimi Akifumi came to the office with his niece, Hazuki, did work pick up again.

Bou-san and Ayako sat in for the meeting since they were available that day.

Akifumi unraveled a bandage wrap from around Hazuki's neck to reveal dark bruise marks akin to those made from a noose. Initially, the Yoshimi family had brought her to the hospital thinking it was a skin condition, that is, until the next incident happened.

Disturbing characters etched themselves into her back like burn marks. The characters were known as a "kaimyo," or a posthumous name. Bou-san interpreted them as, "This foolish child will go to hell."

And that's when Mai knew this was going to be just the right level of crazy that Naru liked.

With the Yoshimi home being along the coast in Wakayama, Ayako understandably complained about not stopping by a beach at least once. Mai couldn't help but agree as the drive was a whopping seven hours. There was a reason the bullet train was the preferred way to get across the country.

Between which car to take, she practically threw herself into the SPR van, much to Bou-san's disappointment. Like hell she wanted to be there for the bickering… or the sexual tension.

That was the right call because whenever the group stopped for a rest break, Ayako and Bou-san either had sourpuss expressions on—or were awkwardly pink in the face. Meanwhile, Mai was texting the "Yasu, John, and Madoka group chat" to fill them in on the details. The group technically also had Masako in it but she only ever responded with emojis of herself in reaction.

(Mai had the inkling that Masako still liked being included even though she was too busy to be active.)

While she was chatting up a storm on her phone, Naru was periodically distracted by the little noises she made while reacting to certain messages. He didn't care to know the details, but he surmised that she was likely up to no good. Perhaps, the topic was her reasoning for not taking Bou-san's car for the trip.

Shaking his head, he slipped on his glasses to return to his reading. The rest of the ride went on like that until they pulled up to their destination.

The Yoshimi property, including their hotel, was well placed next to the coast, sitting atop a cliff that overlooked the ocean.

Mai felt her lunch threatening to come back up as she peered over the edge. Apparently, this area was known for its drastic tide cycles. Right now, the tides were on the rising. Something about it all was foreboding.

"Mai, you coming?" Ayako called as everyone else was led inside by Akifumi.

Glancing one last time at the expanse of the ocean, Mai followed them inside. While the home was normally a running hotel, business had been stopped for their investigation. Without any guests, the long hallways felt much too barren.

Akifumi brought them to a room where they met the current head of the Yoshimi family, Yoshimi Taizo, and his wife, Yoshimi Hiroe. The Yoshimi bloodline was through Hiroe, whereas her husband had married into the family. After exchanging the usual pleasantries, the husband-and-wife duo took on much more grave expressions.

"We really appreciate you coming all the way out here to Wakayama. The reason we called you is because of what we believe to be a curse on the Yoshimi family," Taizo said.

"A curse?" Mai mumbled to herself.

"Every time the head of the family changes, strange things start happening," explained Hiroe. "32 years also when my grandfather passed away, eight family members died. One after another. The time before that, five of my mother's siblings died in rapid succession, leaving only her. As soon as my father passed away the other day, those strange markings appeared on Hazuki."

Hiroe closed her eyes as she collected herself. "To leave such morbid marks on her back… it's like he's condemning his great granddaughter to death."

The dreadful feeling in the pit of Mai's stomach festered on as she listened. By the time dinner came around, she didn't have much of an appetite but still ate anyway to not appear rude.

What was more worrying to her was the feeling of utter malice directed towards her by someone or something. She couldn't explain it as none of the family members were openly hostile toward her. She chalked it up to just being overly paranoid.

Besides, the Yoshimi family was large so it was hard to figure out who it would be. She wracked through her brain to remember who everyone was again, wondering if she needed to draw a family tree in her notebook.

Taizo and Hiroe had three sons and two daughters.

The oldest son, Kazuyasu, was married to Yoko. They were Hazuki's parents. Hazuki also had a brother named, Katsuki.

The second oldest son was Yashitaka, and then, the youngest son was Akifumi, the one who came all the way to Tokyo to meet them.

The oldest daughter was Teruka who was married to Eijiro. They had a daughter named Wakako.

The youngest daughter was Nao.

If Mai had to choose the one who gave her bad vibes, it would be the son-in-law, Eijiro. Perhaps his face was normally like that but he appeared far more agitated than the rest.

As if proving her right, he slammed is cup on the table, alarming everyone. "What are these people doing here?! Shouldn't we tell them the full story?"

His wife, Teruka, put a hand on his arm, warning him, "Not in front of the guests, dear."

"I'm saying this because I'm concerned for them. We owe them the truth!"

The family members all looked down at the table.

When no one dared to say anything, he continued. "It wasn't just our family members who died 32 years ago."

Naru looked up at Eijiro, his face hardening. "What do you mean?"

Taizo cleared his throat, looking ashamed. "He's right. We should tell them everything."

Hiroe closed her eyes, visibly distressed. "They're our last hope. If they leave, there's nothing more we can do."

Taizo flattened his mouth in conflict before sighing. "But it's the right thing to do."

"You're right. Let's tell them," Hiroe conceded, looking up to address the members of SPR. "It wasn't just the eight family members. There were three other guests as well. They were all spiritualists."

Mai's eyes widened, sharing a look with Bou-san and Ayako who sat across from her.

Akifumi personally walked them back to their room after dinner, likely worried about what they chose to do from here on.

"We're not going to let something like that scare us off," said Bou-san as he and Naru sat themselves on the chairs in front of the window.

Mai nodded. "You guys need our help. Besides, we've been through way worse." She tried to offer a reassuring smile.

Akifumi gave a thankful one in return, explaining how everyone else they had consulted with before bailed as soon as they heard about the spiritualists' deaths. It was clear why the family resorted to seeking help in Tokyo.

"Sorry about what happened at dinner. Eijiro is not normally like that, especially not in front of guests. We do run a hotel, after all."

"What of the other family members? Have they acted strangely?" asked Naru.

Akifumi nodded. "Kazuyasu and Yashitaka have been on-edge ever since the funeral. Yoko-san's been understandably down too because three of our dogs went gone missing the other day. And we found them washed up on the beach yesterday."

"That's awful." Mai brought her hands up to her face. "Everyone must have so much on their minds."

"Even with all that, I think the ones who've changed the most are the children."

"I think you said there's three total, right? Has Hazuki-chan been acting normal?" asked Ayako.

Akifumi nodded, his face distressed. "Yes. Hazuki has been acting fairly normal. It's Teruka's daughter, Wakako, and Hazuki's brother, Katsuki, who have been unusual."

"How so?"

"They were always friendly, but not this close. They're constantly holding hands and whispering to each other. They don't talk to us anymore and keep to themselves. If we do ask what they're talking about, they giggle and wink before running away. It's unnerving to say the least."

Ayako visibly shivered while Mai did her best not to make a face. Possessed children? No, thank you.

"When did this start?" asked Naru.

Let me guess, after the funeral, Mai said to herself.

"Ever since the funeral."

Mai adjusted the camera one more time before confirming with Naru if it was okay.

"That's good. Come back to base," Naru said from her one ear-pod.

"Yup."

Before she could hang up the call, he told her to stay on the line. "Knowing you, you'll encounter something."

"Probably." She couldn't even act offended.

Finishing up, she shut off the lights in the room and made her way down the hall. "For a hotel, wouldn't you think they'd keep the lights on in the hallway?" she grumbled to Naru. He didn't respond to her complaint, but she knew he heard her.

Creaking of the floor boards from behind slowed her pace to a stop. She listened carefully, hearing little footsteps.

"Who's there?" she asked, turning around. The end of the hallway was nearly pitch black, vaguely reminding her of the Urado case. "I know you're there."

Exiting from four doors down were two children, likely Wakako and Katsuki. Even in the dark, their body language read apprehensive. "You need to leave, witch," Katsuki said, glaring her down.

Talk about unsettling and rude.

"You're Wakako-chan and Katsuki-kun, right? What are you two doing up so late?"

She could hear Naru shifting from his end from her ear-pod.

The two children whispered to each other, continue to eye her with disdain. Wondering what was wrong, Mai took a step forward, surprised when the two jumped back.

"How many of your kind are here?" asked Wakako.

My kind?! What are we, creatures?!

"Why do you need to know?"

The children whispered amongst themselves again before taking each other's hands. "None of your business." With that, they disappeared down the hallway.

"What was that, Mai?" asked Naru in her ear.

"Um… I don't really know. I get why Akifumi-san said the kids acting weird though. They called me a 'witch,' and when I tried to get closer, they looked like I was going to kill them." She looked down the hall one more time before continuing back to base. "I'm surprised the adults didn't even question them being possessed."

She didn't walk very far before a scream for help erupted from the Yoshimi side of the building. She ran toward the source, meeting up with her team in the process.

When they arrived, they found a blood-thirsty Eijiro holding a knife in the air. He was held back by Kazuyasu and Yoshitaka. Eijiro continued to thrash wildly, his brother-in-laws barely holding him back.

"Lin," was all Naru needed to say.

"Right." Just as Eijiro managed to knock Kazuyasu and Yoshitaka away, Lin skillfully knocked the knife out of his hand and held his neck in a stronghold with his arm until he passed out.

Lin quickly restrained him using someone's necktie as Yoko brought out the first-aid kit.

"What got into him?" Kazuyasu asked, running his uninjured hand through his hair while Mai wrapped up the cut on his other hand.

"I had only been talking to him about what happened at dinner when he left and came back with the knife," explained Teruka as Ayako tended to the cut on her arm.

Naru studied Eijiro, who laid unconscious in the corner next to Lin. "Did anything happen prior to dinner that may have set him off?"

Teruka shook her head. "No, he was completely fine before."

"Sounds like a possession to me," said Bou-san.

"Looks like we'll need to call John, after all." Naru looked between Ayako and Bou-san. "Unless, do either of you think you can handle it?"

The two spiritualists shared a look. "I can drive it out, but maybe Bou-san would be better," said Ayako, her usual confidence gone.

Bou-san looked reluctant as well, bringing a hand to his chin. "I'm not sure how it would go. The last time I tried to exorcise something directly, the vessel was destroyed."

Mai tilted her head. "What about when you exorcised Anju-san's energy at Yamada-san's house? None of the antiques were broken."

"That's different. I wasn't directing Dharmic power at anything physical. It's risky to direct this power toward living beings."

Ayako frowned. "So, you're saying you've never driven out a spirit before? What kind of spiritualist are you?"

"Then, you can do it. You're weak enough that it'll probably be fine," Bou-san said, scratching at his ear.

"Run that by me again?" Ayako glared.

"In any case, someone needs to do it. Will you try, Matsuzaki?" asked Naru, completely putting any squabbling of theirs to a stop.

Seeing the sincerity of his question, Ayako nodded, still looking reluctant. "Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you. I can only drive it out, not destroy it."

Thus, they cleared out anybody that wasn't the SPR team and set up for Ayako's ritual.

Mai could tell how apprehensive she was about it. Mai was surprisingly confident in Ayako's ability to drive it out, but she also wasn't sure what would happen afterwards. Would it just possess someone else?

"Mai," Ayako called her. "Do you have any talismans?"

"Yeah, I made some more before we left for this case."

"Stick them on the walls. It'll keep the spirit from escaping the room at the very least. Maybe if we're fast enough, we can get rid of it."

Mai nodded. "Yeah, sure." She then left for their bedroom to get the talismans from her bag. On her way back, she encountered Katsuki and Wakako again.

"It's you two again. What are you up to?"

Their glare never wavered, watching her carefully as she approached them. When she got close, they tried to run away.

"Wait!" She reached out for Katsuki but he growled at her when she grabbed his arm.

"Let go of me, wench," he spat out, lashing out with his other arm. She could've sworn she felt something sharp in the air graze her shoulder.

She gasped in surprise and jumped back.

Well, now.

How could anyone think they weren't possessed? They made it very clear, at least to her.

The door of the ritual room slid open, revealing Bou-san. "There you are, Jou-chan. We were waiting for you to come back."

"Oh, um, I was just getting some talismans," she said, entering the room but not before taking a wary glance down the hall. "I met the kids again. Katsuki-kun growled at me and tried to scratch me when I got too close. Oh, and he called me a 'wench,'" she shared casually as she stuck her talismans up on all four walls.

"'Wench?' I don't think their parents taught them that one," Ayako said, offended on Mai's behalf. "Hey, did he actually scratch you? There's a cut on your sleeve."

Indeed, there was a hairline cut. "It did feel like something sharp flew at me, but I didn't see anything."

"Sounds like a whirlwind sickle." Bou-san crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "They've gotta be possessed."

Naru listened silently to the conversation from the side. "Do you have enough talismans for the residents of the household, Mai?"

She shuffled through her stack to make sure. "Looks like it."

"We should distribute them to each member of the family."

"Okay."

Once everyone was in place, Ayako began her ritual to draw the spirit out. At first, nothing happened, but then "Eijiro's" eyes shot open and he started growling.

Despite being immobilized, he inched closer to Ayako like a worm, never taking his deranged eyes off her. Just the sight was disturbing yet Ayako maintained her composure and continued her recitation till the very last word.

Just as she finished, a dark malicious purple aura emanated from Eijiro's body before taking the form of a fox. Mai couldn't help but compare it to that of a kitsune.

Two slits for eyes opened and glared at her, whipping around the room in the formation like the infinity symbol.

"Lin, get Mai out of here," Naru said, covering her with an arm cautiously, watching the fox closely.

"No," said Mai, feeling something amiss about the situation. Usa-sama manifested on her shoulder, appearing more like his celestial "noble-form," as dubbed by Gene. The rabbit deity's glare challenged the fox, demanding full authority through their silent communication.

"How dare an intruder threaten to smite us," the fox hissed before shooting toward them.

Despite knowing of Usa-sama's barrier, Naru still pushed her aside anyways. The fox spirit managed to pass through barrier but at the expense of most of its power being purified before it collided into Naru. He flew back into the wall and hit it with a deafening crack.

"Naru!" Mai yelled, dropping to his side, her body shaking from worry.

"You okay, Naru-bou?!"

Naru coughed, breathing heavily. "I'm fine," he said, bringing a hand up to give himself space.

"Why'd you do that? I could've handled it." Mai frowned, angry that he put himself in danger for her.

He didn't answer her, suddenly feeling exhausted. He stood up with some difficulty before directing their attention to their client.

Eijiro groaned causing everyone to turn their heads. "Ugh… what happened? Why am I all tied up?"

After ensuring that Eijiro was back to normal and with his family, they returned to base to discuss.

"Since it's so late, we can hand out the talismans tomorrow morning," said Mai as she sat down. "For some reason, I don't think anyone possessed would even want one."

"That could be a test to weed out who's possessed." Bou-san nodded his head in satisfaction at his idea.

Ayako crossed her arms. "If the kids are possessed too, then that means there are multiple spirits here."

"Seems like it."

Mai brought a finger to her chin as she stared at the static on the monitors. "Should we call John and Masako?"

"That might be our only choice, unless you can figure out what kind of spirits we're working with here?"

"Masako would probably be better, but I can try asking Gene-" she said before realizing her slip up. Naru, who had been resting on one of the chairs by the window, picked up his head briefly to give her a look.

If anyone picked up on it, they didn't make any inclinations. "What do you think of the idea, Naru-bou?" Bou-san asked, turning around to face Naru.

"That would be best," he said, slumping back.

"You good, man?"

"I'm fine. My back just aches from the impact earlier."

Usa-sama, who had been sitting in Mai's lap, hopped over and jumped on top of the coffee table. Naru flinched when the rabbit deity appeared before him.

"You sure you're okay?" Concerned now, Mai stood and approached him. "Maybe you should go rest."

Still eying Usa-sama, he nodded and stood up. "I think I will."

Mai's eyes followed his lethargic figure as he headed for the door. "I can walk you back."

"It's okay, Mai. I'll go with Naru. I have to change, anyways," offered Ayako. Her brows were scrunched with worry as she watched Naru. Since she had more medical knowledge, it was better that she went in case he needed any medical intervention.

After the two left, Bou-san crossed his arms. "How could she criticize me earlier when she totally screwed up that exorcism? Makes me wonder about how truthful her status is as a priestess."

Mai leaned her cheek against her hand. "That's a little harsh. I mean, she did say that she could only drive out the spirit, not destroy it."

"That's the other thing. Priests and priestesses normally work in at least pairs. You don't really see them working solo," said Bou-san, scratching his head.

"Oh, I didn't know that."

The static that had been plaguing the monitors up until now disappeared, rolling the live footage again. Mai sat up to look, gasping at what she saw.

Both Naru and Ayako were on the floor. From the view of the camera, Naru was on top of her almost like he was strangling her.

As soon as Bou-san saw what was going on, he called for Lin and they both ran out into the hallway with Mai following suit.

Naru had pinned Ayako to the floor with his hands around her neck. Lin ripped him off and knocked him unconscious like he did with Eijiro earlier. Bou-san helped Ayako up, letting Mai help her to their bedroom.

After Ayako was safe in the room, Mai sought out Bou-san and Lin. They had laid Naru down in the room adjacent to the men's bedroom.

"I could've sworn the fox went through him and out the wall," reasoned Bou-san.

"It couldn't have. Remember the talismans?" Mai pointed out.

"At the very least, it doesn't appear to have taken full control of his body yet. If it had, Matsuzaki would already be dead," said Lin.

Mai's eyes widened. "What do you mean?" She hadn't realized Naru was that strong.

"Out of all of us, Naru is easily the most dangerous."

"Really? Even you? If you had to hold him back, would you stand a chance?" asked Bou-san.

"I could survive." Lin made a point to look Mai for his next sentence. "But if it was a fight to the death, he would be the winner."

She widened her eyes in realization, remembering exactly who Naru was and what he was capable of with his PK. She'd never seen it action with her own eyes, so she nearly forgot about it. If his memories were anything to go by, his PK could be frightening.

Bou-san looked between Lin and Mai, wondering if there was something he was missing that only the two of them knew.

"What do you think we should do? I'm guessing restraining him won't be enough."

Lin pondered on their options. "I can't exorcise the spirit unless I know its identity. I'll have to induce paralysis until we can free him."

Mai frowned at the idea, wondering if there was another way to get the spirit out. Gene? Are you awake?

Hmm… I am now… woah, what happened to Noll?

He's been possessed by a violent spirit and even tried to strangle Ayako. Do you know of a way we can get the spirit out without John?

Oof, that's dangerous. Do you know anything about the spirit?

Um… not really. I do know right before it entered him, it looked really angry about me and Usa-sama being here. If I'm gonna be honest, there's few things here that want me out.

Making lots of friends as usual, I see, Gene joked. It might be a little farfetched, but your souls are connected. Maybe you could use that to help free him.

How?

You have a one-way telepathy connection. Try making it whole.

Again, how?

Not really sure. I would think physical contact of some sort would be a good start. I'll try to think of something in the meantime.

Mai gulped, hopeful yet nervous at the same time. "Um, Lin-san, I'd like to try something."

He raised a brow, waiting for her to elaborate.

She glanced briefly at Bou-san. "My spirit guide said to use my connection with Naru to try and get the spirit out that way."

From the mention of her "spirit guide," Lin understood and questioned her no further. Bou-san, on the other hand, could only come up with more.

"Wait, hold on a minute. You and Naru-bou? What connection?!"

Mai debated what to say but ended up sighing in defeat. It wasn't like it was a mandatory secret—a situation never arose where they needed to share it until now. "Remember how Naru saved me in Yuzawa a year ago and a half ago? Well, we formed a spiritual connection. We can sometimes hear each other's thoughts."

Bou-san looked like his eyes were about to bulge out. "What the fuck, Jou-chan? And you guys never said anything?"

"I'll tell you later. So, give me a few minutes?" She jutted her thumb behind her, implying for them to leave the room.

Bou-san shook himself out of his surprise, now his face taking on a skeptical look. "Don't tell me you're going to give him the kiss of true love to wake him up."

Mai glared at him before punching him lightly on the arm. "What do you take me for, you old fart?"

That got a small lopsided smile from him before his face returned to its serious expression. "I do think that Lin and I should still be here in case."

"Fine, then leave the door open a little but promise me you won't look inside," she said, not sure why she was feeling so embarrassed. It wasn't like she was doing anything weird… it just felt oddly intimate.

Bou-san's, and even Lin's, eyebrows reached for the sky at her request, but they didn't tease her about it. They were running out of time. Thus, they entered the adjacent room. Before they left the door open just a crack, Bou-san said, "You better not keep me in the dark."

"I pinky promise." She extended her lone pinky through the crack. He chuckled and completed their pact.

"Good. Now, get going."

When Mai was sure they were away from the door, she kneeled beside Naru with Usa-sama. Studying him now, she could barely believe in their current reality—he appeared to be nothing more than asleep.

Sighing, she quietly apologized to him before taking his hand into her own. This should be enough, right? She closed her eyes and tried to focus her energy toward him, using the

"push-pull" technique she had learned at the start of her training.

She could feel her energy moving, but Naru was still too far away. Was her will not strong enough? Trying again, this time she thought about her intentions, her feelings.

Closer but still not enough.

At this rate, she would have to embarrass herself and lay on top of him. Her face warmed at the thought.

Usa-sama hopped toward Naru's head, placing his paw on his forehead.

"You think I should touch his forehead?" Usa-sama's famous double eye-blink affirmed her question. When she reached out with her hand, he knocked her hand away.

She scrunched her brows in confusion.

Use your forehead, clarified Gene.

Oh.

Mai's heart started beating rapidly. Bou-san had joked about her giving him a kiss to wake him up, and yet, somehow a forehead caress seemed much more intimate. Adjusting herself to sit next to the top his head, she determined it would be better for her nerves to do it upside down.

Aware of her self-consciousness, Usa-sama dematerialized to give her privacy.

Take a deep breath, she reminded herself why she was doing this—they were here to help the Yoshimi family and she was the reason the spirit possessed him. She didn't want him to cause any more harm to the others or himself.

Leaning over, her face hung over his briefly and she allowed herself to scan his features. This was the closest she had ever been to his face. She could see every eyelash, the barely noticeable freckle on his right cheekbone, and how the hardened lines of his face softened as he slept.

Closing her eyes, she rested her forehead on his, feeling his bangs brush against her own as her hair draped around his cheeks. She released the tension from her shoulders and breathed out slowly.

"Sorry for intruding," she whispered as her head felt hazy, her body feeling like it was floating amongst the clouds in a disorienting fog.

When she opened her eyes next, she stood in the foyer of what looked like the house she had seen in Naru's memories. Really, "house" was an understatement. It reminded her of the manors she saw in historical movies. Was this a recreation of the twins' home?

Looking around, she recognized the pictures of the twins framed on the wall and the potted plants that Luella kept around the house. She "recalled" walking up and down the stairs many times, sometimes while reading.

She felt out of place in this home—this home that she couldn't call hers but resonated with so much.

"Noll has a better memory than I thought."

Mai whipped around, surprised to find Gene standing behind her. "You're here too?!"

He scoffed jokingly. "Of course, I am! You and I are a package deal. Besides, it's not like Noll and I have been connected telepathically since birth or anything."

"Really? I… actually didn't know that," she muttered quietly, feeling even more out of place. A sudden slam against the house startled her.

Looking out the window for the first time, she saw what looked like a whirlwind of miasma circling around the house. The evil fox spirit could be seen circling the house trying to break in.

"That doesn't look good," she said. "We need to find Naru so I can figure out how to get rid of that thing."

Gene put his hands on his hips and scanned the first floor. "I reckon he's in the study. Do you remember how to get there?"

"Me?" Mai pointed to herself in disbelief.

"Give it a shot. I'll tell you an embarrassing Noll story if you can find it on your first try."

Talk about unfair.

Pouting, Mai grumbled as she led them both upstairs, unintentionally following the route she saw Naru take time and again. At the top of the stairs, she took a right and walked down the hall until she reached some double-doors on the left, four rooms down. Glancing at Gene for confirmation, he shrugged and gestured for her to open it.

Sucking in a breath, she pushed them open. Naru stood at the window with his back to them, the familiar black cat aptly named, "Jiji," perched on the window sill beside him.

"Naru!" she called out.

He turned around, perplexed. "Mai-" He immediately paused as soon as he saw Gene, his eyes widening.

Gene grinned with a bittersweet edge to his face.

"Long time no see, Noll. Done being possessed?"

A/N: My twins are together again :') Hi! Hope everyone's faring okay. Just so y'all know, I'm going to Japan next month, so the next chapter may be out a week later than usual.

I have also posted a new story that I'll be working on in between updates for this one! It's a soulmate AU and will be fairly short and sweet (a slice-of-life, really). So, please check it out if that calls out to you! (Crossposted to AO3)

As always, consider giving a review/fav/follow if you've enjoyed reading a story. Us writers appreciate it! Thank you!