~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ MAI ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
9:00 AM Japan
'The dream I had last night has been bothering me. I can't imagine it meant anything special though... but it sure was eerie...' Once again alone in the temporary base, Mai effortlessly gives a sigh when she places her chin on her open palms. 'I hope everyone figures out if there spirits or not— or maybe Akemi-sempai gets back here soon.'
KNOCK—KNOCK!
"Yes? Who is it?" Mai sits up straight once the doors of the room slid open, revealing a familiar face.
"Kasai-san..."
"May I come in?" the student asks and Mai let out an awkward smile and gestures to the seat in front of her. "Ah, yes, of course."
'This is uncomfortable...'
"How is the investigation going?" Kasai-san asks when she sat on the vacant seat.
The mention of the current investigation did not fully remove the awkward atmosphere between them. But Mai willingly bites at the topic.
"Eh... Actually not very well. A Psychic Medium is telling us that there's no spirit here."
"No way! There are way too many things happening for that to be true." Kasai-san leans in, completely baffled with the information she got.
Mai hums, "I agree with you but we don't have anyone else on our team who can see spirits— Actually we do, I heard that her abilities are more attuned and accurate but she is not available today..."
"Why isn't she available?" Kasai-san frowns. "She doesn't want to join in on the investigation?"
Hearing an almost accusing conversation, Mai was quick enough to react. Not wanting any slander towards Akemi's personality. "No no! She's on a month's worth of family vacation— says it's because her whole family are completely busy and rarely gets together so a tradition was sort of made..." Mai could not help but envy such a family tradition, a month's worth of sight-seeing and family bonding with no calls or text from either their jobs or anything social.
"..." Kasai-san seems to ponder the same envy, a month's worth of forgetting their social lives. "-Shibuya-san and you are psychic too, aren't you?"
"Ah! I'm not psychic," Mai laughs, "And Na— I mean Shibuya-san is a ghost hunter— although I think he may actually be an Onmyou-ji..."
"Onmyou-ji? Wow I'm impressed." Mai nods along Kasai's comment, a bubbling feeling fills her chest somewhat proud of Naru.
"How about you kasai-san? Can't you see spirits?"
"Me? Oh no. I don't have any ESP abilities."
'A what abilities...?' A drop of sweat present itself, feeling sheepish for not knowing. "ESP?"
"You... you don't know what ESP is?" Kasai-san blinks, stunned and confused. Seeing her expression, Mai felt even more conscious but Kasai kindly continued to avoid embarrassing the situation further. "Some people believe that psychic power is a type of ESP or Extrasensory Perception. I only have PK and it's only a PK-ST ability."
Feeling dumbstruck, Mai did not know there were actual people knowing information such as these. "Wow... you know a lot about this stuff..."
'I wonder what PK-ST is— I should ask Bou-san or Akemi-sempai about this later.'
"I learned all this from Kei-sensei. She is very knowledgeable in Parapsychology." that shook Mai out of her stupor,
"Kei? Oh! do you mean Ubusuna-sensei?" Kasai nods, confirming Mai's question.
At the mention of her teacher, Kasai's shoulders drop. A sad expression swells her face. "I... I feel bad for Kei-sensei because she tried to support me... Other teachers and even the PTS are now against her. I've seen them completely ignoring her..." Kasai could remember it all, the discrimination and words spouted against the teacher, ringing on her head.
"But lately I think things have gotten a little better. People who used to say that ghosts or ESP didn't exist are now experiencing it themselves." Mai wanted to stop herself but she could not help but notice Kasai-san smiling. "I hear that some secretly come to speak to Kei-sensei about their experiences..."
"It sounds like Ubusuna-sensei is a good person,"
"Hai..." Kasai fully smiles, not as wide as cheerful people like Yuko but enough to show admiration towards her teacher. "Even when I felt like the whole school was against me she was always there. I've never met anyone that supportive to a stranger."
Speaking to her now, Mai felt comfortable. The look of adoration and debt on Kasai-san's eyes thawed Mai's tension. 'She's for real...' With a more genuine smile, Mai leans in the desk to speak to Kasai-san further.
"I heard she graduated from this school..."
"Really? Most of our female teachers graduated from here!" and the two talked until the bell rang, signaling Kasai and Mai to end their conversation.
~~~
1:00 PM Japan
"I see..." Naru mutters to himself after the others heard about Mai's conversation with Kasai-san.
Each of them have their own hot cup, Masako and Naru are more into tea while the others asked Mai for a cup of coffee. It serves a short lunch break for the crew,
"But how much can we trust this Kasai girl?" Ayako questions, doubting the sincerity Mai saw on the girl along with her abilities. "What do you mean how much? I did see her put a broken spoon together— I'd say I believe her."
"I don't know about that!" Ayako pouts, not knowing the girl could actually mend a spoon together. If she knew that, her opinion might have changed. "But still! bending a spoon is just too fishy, you know? Wasn't everybody that did it assumed to be a cheater?"
Mai gapes, not knowing this information. "Are you serious?"
"That's right. Uri Geller originally started spoon bending," John willingly imparts to the rookie. "It's believed that he's the best psychic of the 20th century— from PK to clairvoyant powers and prediction... he acted like nothing was impossible for him. Geller then bent spoons at various places and children who saw him imitated it and started bending spoons themselves."
"Let's see... is it the Gellerini?" Mai gives out, remembering Naru's words back when they spoke to Kasai-san at the Biology Prep room. 'Thank you..' Naru's voice echoed back to her thoughts, his expression fills back her mind.
But before the girl could blush, she snaps out of it. "Correct! but Gellerini's power was always unpredictable. Some Gellerini lost power... and some of them ended up relying on tricks. As a result, their dishonest act came to light and people started doubting the Gellerini had power. At the same time, people also began doubting Geller's power."
'Woah...'
"At one time even the parapsychology society of America officially announced that Geller's act was a hoax." John sadly smiles. "Ever since, most people now believe that spoon bending is a trick."
"I see..." Mai nods to herself before she turns back to John, confused. "So what is the truth?"
"I'm not sure either... but Geller is too showy for me."
"Hm? what do you mean?"
"There are two types of Psychic power, ESP and PK." John goes down to explaining once more. "ESP stands for Extrasensory Perception, it's a special ability to perceive things that ordinary people can't. There are two types of ESP; Clairvoyant and telepathy while PK is Psychokinesis. It is the ability to move objects using only your will power..."
"I see... I see..." Mai nods in understanding. "So ESP are like Akemi-sempai and Masako?" Bou-san nods at Mai's example.
"Generally a Psychic can be classified as either PK or ESP. You'll occasionally find people that are a mix of both but most people can be classified as one or the other." John simply finishes while Bou-san follows in his words.
"Right," the Monk takes a sip of his coffee, unaware of losing Mai due to the names he's gonna mention. "Edgar Cayce and Jean Dickson are great clairvoyants but I've never heard of them bending a spoon. On the other hand, Nina Kulagina has amazing PK but I've never heard of her having ESP."
"But Geller is known for being the master of both PK and ESP, right?" seeing John hum on his question. Bou-san kinked his head, "I'm actually not sure what to believe..."
'I see...' the words Mai could repeatedly say at this situation, turning to briefly glance at Naru, who kept to his work and assessed the papers by the desk. 'huh? didn't Kasai-san said something about... what was it again? Oh!'
"By the way, Kasai-san mentioned PK... uhhh... PK-ST! What does she mean by that?"
"Ah! Well there are three types of PK;" Bou-san holds out three fingers, recounting the types. "PK-MT, PK-ST and PK-LT... I think."
'Wh—what?'
"Bending a spoon is an example of PK-ST. It is the ability to influence a stationary object. PK-MT is the opposite in that it's the ability to control an object that's already in motion. Apparently it's a latent ability most people have, for example, if you roll a die and wish for a two to come up you may get a two."
Hearing that it is a latent ability, Mai points a finger to herself. "Really?! then even I could do it?!"
"Maybe." Bou-san shrugs, "PK-LT is an ability to influence a living thing. Nina Kulagina who I mentioned earlier, is a good example. Just by a simple touch she could cure illness and also stop a frog's heart— I believe she even had PK-ST, too."
'Ehh?! Why would she stop a frog's heart?!' Mai pales in comparison to Masako's frail skin. 'These PK users shouldn't be messed with...'
"-And speaking of famous PK users... There's Oliver Davis from England who is also a PK-ST." Bou-san seems to gloat, leaning towards Mai with a wide goofy grin. "Most people move only small objects using PK, such as a box of matches or a spoon but this guy was an exception— I heard that during an experiment several years ago, he moved a 50 kg aluminum ball and smashed it onto a wall only using his PK."
"Uwaah?! Is that really possible?" Bou-san and John ignored the stunned high school girl. "I think Dr. Davis was more of a Psy-researcher than a PK user. He doesn't appear in different media that much either."
"I don't believe that even someone like Oliver Davis can use PK-LT. On the other hand, Geller claims that he can use various PK as well as ESP."
"I see..." Mai hums, 'That was a lot...'
"At any rate," the room hushes, Naru finally speaking. "Kasai-san believed in her own psychic ability. She found some of the teachers' reactions to her special power quite unfriendly and as a result to that..." Naru paused, his gaze moving towards the doors.
"She'd kill them by putting a curse on them?" Ayako drawled in but the doors to the base slid open, a continuous knock sounded on the door that Mai distinctly remembers as the same knock Naru did.
"I wonder if she's capable of such a thing?" Akemi chimes in, a graceful smile on her glossed lips. "She'd have to be a strong PK-LT user for that to be possible."
Brilliant purple connects with deep indigo blues.
Naru leans back on his chair with a soothed sigh during the time Akemi greeted them all. "Bonjour~"
Her laugh permeates the room, reminding them of relaxing wind chimes on a peaceful morning.
~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ AKEMI ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"So~" Akemi gave the bag of macaroons and other pastries to Mai, after Ayako had her hug soon after. It took her a few more seconds to finish her drink before facing Naru, "You called?"
Mindful of Akemi's finished business, Naru stands— pulling over his own blazer coat. "Took you long enough. Let's go."
Akemi stifles a laugh, standing along side him, missing his cold demeanor. "Ara gomen~ the plane ride took 11 hours to get to Japan.— 12 if you include waiting and landing."
Naru did not say anything else as he slid the doors closed behind them.
The others inside the temporary base froze, confused when Naru closed the door on them.
Masako huffs, covering half of her face with her sleeves— irritated and frustrated, sitting back on a vacant seat while the others decided to feast on Akemi's delicious macaroons.
Meanwhile, Naru already finished explaining about the case. "Have you encountered anything on your way to the base room?"
Akemi clasps her hands behind her back, walking beside Naru. Matching his step. "So far none..." the heiress drags before a teasing glint passed her eyes, leaning closer to Naru. "Did you miss me? Was I in your mind? even just a little— itai~!"
"Mouh~! You could have just said yes!" Akemi half-heartedly pouts, pausing on her steps when Naru flicked her forehead, the cold boy never losing his stride.
"Cut that out and get to work." Akemi laughs and speed-walked to catch up to Naru, who slid open one of the doors. Quiet and waiting.
"Hai~ hai~" Akemi walks in before Naru, her eyes gazing all over the room before it fell on a center desk. "Woah..."
With careful steps, Akemi reaches the desk, bending down wit her hand hovering a few inches above it. "Well?" despite her concentration (not that she needed it to see) Akemi still noticed Naru being near.
Straightening up yet her eyes stayed at the desk, Akemi pondered her words. "How should I explain this... there is something on this desk," Akemi's hand continued to hover around the desk like she feels it. "An aura surrounds the desk... but it's a bit dull— a black-coal like mist, a thin presence evidence of spirit attachment. A presence that is no longer here left some of it's traces... At these kinds of situations it's most likely that whatever this was, is still out there somewhere— maybe with the student who used to sit here..."
"Why do you say that?"
"Whatever it is has some of its traces still here— if it no longer exists, all its traces would cease."
Naru lifts a hand on his chin, "I see..."
"Is this the desk with the massaging hand?" Naru nods, Akemi this time was the one to mutter his words.
Noticing a deep look in her eyes, Naru narrows his stare. "What are you thinking?"
With a bite on her lip, Akemi traces it with her fingertips. Trying so hard to control herself. Seeing her closing off, Naru forces a sigh, leaning on one of the desk and gestures Akemi with a nod. "What is it?"
"No really— you would not appreciate what I would say..."
"Just say it." With a sigh and Naru's permission, Akemi lifted her gaze to him with determined eyes.
"I was just wondering who had a hand in all of this..." Akemi faltered, a pig like snort coming out her nose.
She turned away from Naru's glare, biting her laugh before inhaling a deep breath in and facing Naru again. "Forgive me... I couldn't help myself... I told you you would not appreciate such words..."
Naru pinched the bridge of his nose at her out of nowhere quip, his brows furrowed together but his reaction did not discourage Akemi. "...I told you, you don't have the stomach for it... Punny..."
"Done?" Naru dryly stared while Akemi nods on each of his questions, "Finished? Can we go now?" the heiress nods twice more.
"Yes," Akemi bit her lips when Naru stood straight and walked out of the room for the next observing. Following behind him, Akemi whispers. "Apparently the hand thought so too..."
In front of her, Naru gave out a breath once more; hearing the comment. It was difficult when it comes to reading Akemi, difficult.
~~~
This time the two decided to visit the Art Prep room.
Identical to the desk, the art room exhibited a thin veil of whatever used to be inside the room but compared to the desk— the Art room neared loosing its trace. Meaning that whatever the Teacher saw in the Art room is no longer there and it has been some time since it left.
~~~
"Ara..." Akemi tucked her blazer dress closer to her thighs when she knelt beside the desk, according to Naru, involved four accidents by train. "This one... it's still here..." she whispered as though it would run off and disappear.
"?" Naru tilts his head, watching Akemi hesitate on touching the 'black mist' she sees. For Naru it seemed more like petting mid air, yet seeing Akemi so dazed and focused on something he couldn't see made him clench his fists inside his pockets to stop himself from his thoughts.
"Unlike the first desk and the Art Prep room, this one is still covered with its scent..." That was the first Naru heard of it,
"Scent?" 'She could smell it?'
With a tilt on her head, Akemi wryly chuckles. The idea of it being uncomfortable even for her. "The aura of this desk is very fresh because it is still present— it doesn't smell like death or rotting flesh because—"
"Those are for demonic," seeing Akemi's solemn gaze, Naru added. "-or something close to it."
Akemi heaves a sigh, "This smells close to bad breath mixed with smoke... which is unusual, because I often smell those on dark witchcraft shops."
Naru hums, gesturing Akemi that their time on the classroom is over.
~~~
When Akemi and Naru reached the Track Team's locker room, Akemi froze.
The sight of it— filled with a thick black mist all over the room. It left her no choice but to plug her nose using her thumb and index finger. The stench of bad breath and smoke permeated the room,
The smell and the jet lag were not a great combination.
"The aura fills the room, I cannot tell where the origin is... this could only mean that it works to haunt the whole room not a single person..." Akemi was quick to turn when Naru closed the door, the stench fully gone from her nostrils. Yet to remove any uncomfortable feeling she saw on the lockers, she could not help but make a remark. "And they say a girl's locker room smells amazing~" Akemi giggles.
~~~
ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ NARU AKEMI MAI ʕ•ﻌ•ʔ
"Eh? Akemi-sempai?" Noting the loudness of her voice, Mai clasped her hands over her mouth. "Are you sleeping?" Mai whispers, seeing her sempai laying her upper body on the length of the desk while the other sat by the seat. Her eyes closed.
With no response, Mai decides to kept her silence and enjoy the view of Akemi dozing off. A rare sight for her to see.
Stifling a giggle, Mai pulls another chair and sat next to Akemi. Taking out some of the papers and stacking them in order but it turns out she didn't need to when all of fit were orderly placed. All that is left is for Mai to put them aside.
'Truly heaven's gift~!' Mai felt tears brim her eyes, staring at Akemi's peaceful figure.
At this moment, the others are trying to exorcist all the items related to the case yet it doesn't seem like anything's changed.
TMPT— TMPT!
Mai thumped the stack of papers to make sure they align, 'This case is pretty complicated...I heard that Taka-san's teacher's health has worsened lately...wait— What if spirits appear in this room?!' Mai bolted out of her seat, her chair screeching loud. 'But... Akemi-sempai would surely protect me, right Akemi-sem—?'
Akemi laid unmoving from her side.
"URGHHH! HA!" Mai articulates, messing her hair in the process of having her hands on her head. 'Akemi-sempai is sleeping, though! She has jet lag!'
The high school girl slowly panics, jumping at the simple gesture of the base door sliding open. However, the person stood by it, calmed her panicking heart.
With tears and shaky hands, Mai cheered his name. "Naru~!" 'Thank you for coming back!'
Aware of her expression, Naru could not hide his thoughts, 'What's wrong with you?'
Akemi giggles, Naru noticing the other presence in the room. A more distinct frown on his face. 'What's wrong with her?'
Mai being grateful for not being alone decides to make Naru some tea, unaware of his thoughts.
"There's no need for tea," Naru says, picking the chair Mai almost clattered to the ground and took a seat. "I'm not thirsty."
"Oh okay," seeing her gestures being rejected, Mai goes back to her seat only to see Naru occupying it. 'Mouh~ I want to sit next to Akemi-sempai though!'
"How's it look? You think we can fix it?" Mai asked, deciding to sit at the ends of the table, next to Akemi's sleeping figure. 'Akemi-sempai's hair looks soft... wait are those blondes?'
"I don't know yet." Naru admits, taking out some of his notes. Rereading, his elbows touching Akemi's laid on the table for her head to rest in.
'Ah...' Mai took a deep sip of her tea, removing her gaze away from Akemi and towards Naru instead. 'He has long eyelashes... If I look at his eyes closely his eyelid has three folds rather than two.. if only he kept his mouth shut he'd be very handsome— his personality is full of thorns and poison...' Mai nods internally. 'He's almost like cluster amaryllis...oops...'
Sudden realization seeps in, 'We're all alone in here! Hooray! Hooray! But Akemi-sempai is with us... but she's sleeping so it does count! Mai-chin~ Very lucky!' Mai cheered. Snickering to herself unaware that she sways herself back and forth. The sudden silence— weird silence she gave made Naru forget her presence just a bit.
Glancing at his side, Akemi faces his direction. Her peaceful features continue to ooze awfully calm comfort despite the lack of her angelic smile that accompanies it. Her hair tame as though it did not want to bother it's owner from her already aching headache.
Hearing Mai snickering beside her made Naru lift his head, eyes narrowed at her goofy grin. "What are you doing?"
Hearing his voice directing to her completely shocked Mai. Jumping on her seat— avoiding his narrowed gaze. "Ah...no... nothing really..."
KKT—!
"Huh?" Mai lifts her eyes towards the ceiling, the lights flickering and buzzing until it decided to turn off. "I hope it's not a power out..."
ZZT—! ZZT—!
Mai and Naru slowly stood, their eyes focused on the ceiling. Waiting.
"...Naru..." Mai turns to speak but a shush from Naru made her pause.
The sounds of electrical buzzing mixed with rumbling churns of wood filled their ears, grew louder— closer each second.
"Hey, Naru..." Mai gaped, staring at the intangible being slowly lowering itself on the ceiling. "...Is that...hair?"
At first, the tips of the hair until it lowered— and lengthen— and got far enough for a woman's face to reveal itself. A wicked grin on its face with it sights directed to the people below.
"...Naru?" With shaky hands, Mai clasped Naru's sleeve which the boy used to push Mai behind him and cover the girls.
"Calm down. Don't move."
'It's— It's coming towards us! I'm so scared... somebody please help! Anybody!'
A flash of paper passed Mai's and Naru's head— dashing straight toward the spirit, hitting it right on its forehead. "Seal!"
The heiress stepped forward, her eyes directed at the hanging woman, covered in black mist— its stench of bad breath and smoke strong and overwhelming.
"Akemi—!"
Akemi's arms moved in quick seconds, the same strokes she has done back at the Doll House case before it left her connecting her fingertips to form an arc. Taking a deep breath before praying. Her voice serene and clear, each word holding a note.
The hanging woman seemed to scream, her mouth wide open and gaping as though choking on air. Naru and Mai remained silent, watching when Akemi took out her beads, wrapped around her hand each stroke she made seems to echo around the room with its satisfying clicks.
With one last phrase on her incantation, she knew it would end the ghost but with her headache and nausea from the sudden stand made her hesitate. "-Egredere de loco meo!"
The hanging woman disappeared before she could finish. The smell of sulfur from the burns of the ghost lingers Akemi's nose; traces of it's mist remains where it showed itself, thick and fresh. "It lives...wounded but still somewhere out there..." Akemi says before relaxing her stance.
Akemi clicks her tongue, clenching her teeth even when the doors slid open to reveal Bou-san asking what happened. ' Late aunt Chieko would scold me for such a rookie mistake...'
Akemi dozed off the room, not completely sleeping and yet not conscious enough to be awake. The warmth of the room from the open window made her doze off,
Akemi felt it. Her senses yelled at her to wake but she was too comfortable and used to ignoring such things that she remained. Yet something in the back of her head pushed her to sleep. Curious to see what was haunting the students and staff and so let whatever it was to come, she waited.
It wasn't until the room temperature plummeted did Akemi realized that she was not alone. Her eyes opened and saw familiar auras and blurred figures that her hand flew to her pocket without knowledge.
"What in the world was that?" Bou-san asks, snapping Akemi out of her thoughts. "Mai, are you alright?"
Hearing Mai's name, Akemi turns to glance at Mai only to see the girl plopped and shaking on the floor. "Mai?" concern and worry fills Akemi's chest. 'Did something happen? Was she too late to act?'
"So it's beginning to appear here, too." Akemi paused her steps to help Mai when Naru spoke up behind her. Realizing as she turned, their chests almost touched. "-This is proof that we can't rely on Hara-san this time."
Akemi glances at Naru, almost close in height. Then averts her gaze towards a shivering Mai. "Mai, are you all right?"
"It... It was after Naru..."
"What?" Bou-san and Akemi frowns,
"That female spirit! It didn't appear because of this room, it came to attack Naru." Mai's eyes connects with Akemi's frozen ones. "Naru is in danger!"
Akemi 's stomach churned, finding the thought uncomfortable. "Mai..."
'If she wasn't here... or if she didn't react and ignored it...' Akemi's hand that held her beads clenched tight.
"I had a dream last night. There were Will-o'-the-wisps all over the school and that ghost was one of them." Mai continued, 'Her eyes were so creepy...'
'Naru... in danger... what would happen if I was in deep sleep?'
"I'm not sure why I know this but the moment I saw it I knew it was something really terrible!" tears brimmed Mai's eyes. 'Eyes that looked like she was thirsting for blood...She was only staring at Naru...'