Chapter 4- Smile
September Day 3, 10:46 A.M.
Masako had just been loaded into an ambulance, John hopping in the back to keep her company. She had fallen down the stairs a little while before, of course that's what was on our favorite brown eyed girl's mind right now.
Mai sat in base thinking about what happened in the sixteen year old's bedroom after they heard Masako scream. It was burned into her memory...
A high pitched scream filled the air, jolting the two girls. "Masako!" Mai exclaimed as Jinru stood and ran for the door. "Wait! You don't know what-"
She never finished.
When Mai reached out to stop Jinru, she grabbed onto the girl's left arm. Jinru winced upon the contact. Mai looked down at her own arm and realized something.
There was a reason why her dream had harmed her... "Jinru..."
The girl recoiled, snapping her arm out of Mai's grasp. Her eyes wide. She shook her head, "F-forget it." She raced out of there with Mai following her.
She never had the chance to talk to the girl after that. Everything happened too fast. She vaguely heard her boss order everyone to do some sort of task after they had watched the video of the camera upstairs. It went dead just before Masako tumbled down the stairs, and the camera at the bottom of the steps only showed her fall to the floor as it was faced toward another room. They had no leads.
"Mai..." her name was being called, she barely heard it. She knew something she probably shouldn't, then again, that happened all the time, and she needed to tell Naru but something told her she had to leave the house. "Mai!"
"Huh!" Mai jumped as her employer snapped her out of her reverie.
"Tea."
That does it. She couldn't keep it down any longer, she had to say something! Screw the tea! Something had to be done! Why was she suddenly feeling bold?
"Naru," she said quietly, standing at his side.
"I told you to get tea..." He did not once look away from his black book. Mai boldly placed her hand in the middle of the page and pushed the book down. "Mai," he warned, obviously annoyed until he saw the look in her eyes.
"I need to speak with you," she said, hearing footsteps from all around them. "Outside."
Naru looked at her, but obeyed anyway. For all he knew, she could be possessed, or the spirit of Tsuyoshi was swaying her decisions. Once they were outside the house, Mai continued to lead him out by the van, looking back at the house constantly. Finally she stopped.
"What is it, Mai?" Naru asked, crossing his arms.
Mai took a deep breath and leaned up against the van's door. "There's a reason why I got these bruises last night," she began, subconsciously grabbing her arm.
"I understand that much," Naru remarked coldly, causing the girl to shoot a glare at him. "Do you know why you received these wounds?"
This was a change. Naru was pressing her for answers. Normally it was the other way around, but this time she wanted answers as well, and she was not going to let him in on her theory until she filed in the blanks. Hey, after working for this guy for over a year, it's time for a little payback. "Naru, I got sick last night."
She knew she wasn't making much sense but she had to admit that it was fun watching him try to figure things out with such vague phrases. Was she doing this on purpose? "I remember, Mai, you ran to the restroom."
This really was fun! He was getting annoyed with her, sure, and was practically calling her stupid, yeah. However, there was something very important that he was missing and she was the who had the key. "Didn't you smell it?" Despite the fun she knew she had to give in.
"Smell what?" Naru was certainly one impatient boy.
"It was so strong and sickening..." Mai continued, mainly to herself, but her boss listened anyway. He was finally getting somewhere with her. "It was as though I had just taken a bath in a tub of sake."
"The alcohol?" the man in black replied, wondering why she was bringing up something that he already new.
Mai simply nodded taking a deep breath. "Yeah. It was such a sickening scent, it made my eyes water and my stomach churn. The next thing I knew I was in the bathroom. I smelled it again when Masako fell."
"And your wounds?" Naru interjected, shifting his weight.
"Huh?" Mai replied, cocking her head.
"You wanted me to come out here to discuss the wounds you received last night."
"Oh, right." The brunette sheepishly scratched her head before continuing. "When you asked me to interview Jinru, she said she hadn't had any experiences and she said she could feel her father with her, like he was her guardian angel or something. She felt safe."
"Go on." At some point he and the petite brown eyed girl had switched places, as she began to pace a little.
"If she felt safe here, why would I have been given these bruises and scratches and burns?" Mai asked him with big eyes.
"I was hoping you would answer that." There goes that irritated look in his eyes.
"It was a message, Naru," Mai explained, as though realization were hitting her as well. "When Masako fell down the stairs, Jinru raced out to see what happened. I grabbed her arm before she reached the door, she flinched."
This caused her workaholic of a boss to raise his eyebrows. Though only for a moment. "She flinched?" he repeated, leaning against the van.
His assistant proceeded to pull up the sleeve on her left arm, pointing to one painful looking purple and black bruise. "I grabbed her arm right where this bruise would be!" Her eyes were stern, she was not going to let him simply walk away from her discovery. "She said she didn't have any paranormal experiences and that she felt safe meaning-"
"They're hiding something."
***
Nishi had left not too long ago once again, saying she had to pick up dry cleaning. Jinru was once again in her room. And the rest of SPR were at base awaiting their next order as Naru hung up the phone. He turned to Monk and Ayako. "I want you two to do another temperature sweep of the house," Naru ordered, then turned to the two younger members of their team. "Mai, Yasuhara, come with me."
The two teens followed the teenage workaholic upstairs to Jinru's room, as the monk and priestess obeyed their own orders. Naru knocked on the door and Jinru opened it with a slightly terrified look on her face. "Y-yes?"
"Miss Gensai, could we have a word with you?" Naru asked with virtually no emotion as always.
"I-I already a-answered your questions," Jinru replied, taking a step back.
"Just a few follow-up questions, Jinru," Yasuhara defended with a smile. "Please? It won't take very long and afterwards we won't bother you again."
"I-I don't know..."
"Please, Jinru," Mai pleaded with understanding eyes.
The girl only sighed. "F-fine."
"Come with us," Naru ordered and started down the stairs, the other teens following in tow.
Mai had already prepared the tea and was pouring it into cups as the others, excluding the medium, monk, priest, and priestess, were sitting at base. Lin was now paying attention while typing away on his computer. Mai placed cups in front of everyone sat next to her employer as he began his own interrogation. "When did your father pass away?" he began, catching the girl off guard.
"T-two years ago," she stuttered, regaining some composure.
"What was he like before he died?"
What on earth? "H-he was kind a-and gentle. H-he was my father," Jinru could only respond, just what was he trying to prove?
"How often did your father drink?" The girl's eyes widened as the only sound in the room was the constant taping of Lin's laptop.
"W-what? M-my father r-rarely drank! W-when he was a-alive, we h-had no a-alcohol in the house." Jinru was shocked from all of this.
"Was he ever abusive to either you or your mother? Verbally or physically?" Naru continued, the gears in his head turning.
Jinru shook her head. "W-where on earth w-would get that idea?" Somewhere deep inside anger started to rise. "No, m-my father never l-laid a hand on m-me. A-and h-he never said anything awful u-unless it-it was to the T.V."
Making a mental note in his head, which seemed to confirm his suspicions. "Mai, roll up your left sleeve," he ordered, the brunette obeyed. A few bandages had been placed on her burns, but the bruise was plain as day.
At this point, Monk and Ayako had finished their sweep and had quietly returned to base. "Miss Gensai, I would like you to roll up your left sleeve as well..."
The air seemed to thicken as the girl tensed, hesitating. Her eyes were wide and her breathing quickened and became shallow. "Miss Gensai?" She barely heard the boy as she began to panic.
Reluctantly, Jinru pulled up her sleeve causing a gasp from several members of the group.
Underneath the fabric, several scars and scratches, and a large healing purple and green bruise. They were all placed in the exact spots as Mai's own arm, there were no coincidences here.
Mai's injuries were a message indeed. But what story were they telling exactly?
"I see," Naru's usual emotionless voice cut into the silence. "I take it the scratches and other wounds Mai had received last night was not the first time you witnessed them?"
Jinru could only nod, tears welling in her eyes. "B-but how?" an awestruck priestess questioned with a small gasp, her eyes wide.
"One last question, Miss Gensai," Naru began, completely unfazed, as though he had expected this from the beginning. Before he could continue he noticed his petite assistant sway side to side.
"Smile, though your heart is aching. Smile, even though it's breaking, When there are clouds in the sky you'll get by..." Her eyes were dazed as her quiet voice sang the notes, the younger teen's eyes just grew wide.
"D-Dad?" The tears were really threatening to spill now.
"Miss Gensai, pay attention, I need you to answer," Naru ordered, as Mai's singing ceased but her face was still dazed. "In the past, has your mother ever been out as much as she has since we arrived?"
Clenching her fists, she painfully remembered the song Mai had been singing. "N-no, not n-nearly as often a-as she has th-the past f-few days..." her voice trailed off as she heard the brunette hum and felt the need to join her.
"Smile, though your heart is aching. Smile, even though it's breaking, When there are clouds in the sky you'll get by," the two began to sing, the taller girl's stutter going away. "Smile, through your tears and sorrows. Smile, and maybe tomorrow you'll see the sun come shining through, if you just smile. Just give me a smile..."
"Daddy..." That was it for the girl, the tears finally came out. Of happiness and sadness, even she didn't know. Meanwhile, a certain bobbed haired girl swayed once more before collapsing only for her boss to catch her.
"I understand," Naru breathed as the girl regained her consciousness. Under normal circumstances she probably would have shouted and scrambled away, but she felt drained and her injuries were beginning to burn. "I think I have everything figured out."
It was at that moment the front door opened, footsteps trailed into Base revealing Nishi with a plastic bag with a dress on a hanger. "Jinru? I-I thought you had to do your homework?" she asked, then seeing Mai trying to steady herself again from her boss's grip. "Oh, Mr. Shibuya, did you find anything? Is the investigation going well?"
The black clad teen simply opened his little black booklet. "My investigators and I believe we figured out the source of the haunting as well as why it persists," he stated.
"So you can stop it?" Nishi's eyes lit up as she hoped her nights filled with terror would finally come to an end.
"You see, it's not something we can do." Naru's unreadable expression always made his comments sound either harsh or plain confusing.
"When did we figure this out?" Monk could be heard whispering to the priestess next to him only to receive an elbow in the ribs.
"I-I'm afraid I do not follow..." the older woman hesitated, placing her belongings on an unoccupied chair.
And thus began Naru's explanation of the entire case. "Your husband, Tsuyoshi Gensai, died just a couple of years ago, until then you held a happy and loving family," he began turning pages in his book. "Jinru was a very outgoing girl until this stress occurred, causing her to become closed up and shy. Afterwards paranormal activity slowly escaladed, which could have been caused by none other than your daughter whom was going through such a stressful time. However," Naru paused looking at the woman. "You also claimed you had been attacked and pushed down the stairs when you were here alone, which could not have been caused by your daughter. There was another cause.
"Then my team and I arrive and catch evidence of your claim to have seen your daughter levitate. Then Mai had a dream that caused her to awake with bruises, scratches, and burns, she ended up having to run to the restroom due to a strong smell of alcohol that only she could smell." He flipped the page. "According to evidence we gathered, and the information we researched, the only plausible spirit that could be the one to escalate the haunting would be your late husband. Tsuyoshi Gensai."
"But, that's impossible," Nishi gasped, feeling her legs go numb. "My husband would never hurt me or my daughter or Mai!"
"You didn't let me finish, Mrs. Gensai," Naru interjected, his investigators knew better than to interrupt him. "According to the fact that your husband was the only one to die in the house and on the property for that matter, it was assumed he was the one inhabiting this place. There are cases in which deceased family members haunt their living relatives and become violent, however that takes time, much more time than the two years your husband had passed away. There would have to be another cause to the violence you described and Mai experienced. There being no record of your husband as the aggressive sort, only made our job tougher. We had to find other clues."
"Then what is here?"
Naru took a sip of his tea before continuing. "I was wondering that myself, until Mai said something to me that sparked my curiosity." He flipped another page. "The injuries she gained last night were message, once she said that, several ideas came to mind. But the question remained, 'if those marks are a message, what are they trying to say?'" Naru closed his book and folded his hands on the table. "Then I received a call and everything came together."
The air was still as they awaited the boy in black to respond. His face was stern as he brought his folded hands up to rest his arms on his elbows and place his chin on his hands.
"You pushed Miss Hara down the stairs."
Gasps were heard around the room. Jinru kept her head down as her mother felt rage building in her.
"How dare you accuse me of such a thing!" the woman shrieked, her fists tightening. "I would never do something like that! Where did you even come up with that idea!"
Naru closed his eyes and remained calm. "The call I received was from Father Brown, Miss Hara is doing fine and awoke not long ago. She said you were the one who pushed her, putting all the pieces together."
"How! What makes you think I was the one to push her!"
He opened his eyes and looked at the woman. "Ever since we arrived, you had a peculiar way of going about things," Naru began, his blue eyes serious. "We only had your accounts to go by, making our job difficult because of your warning that your daughter was busy with homework and to not disturb her. So we stayed away from your daughter, respecting your wishes and trying to figure this case out with the information on hand. You also claimed that she hadn't experienced anything, when I asked to interview her, she confirmed your claim. However that doesn't explain the bruises and scars on her arm." Naru's eyes narrowed accusingly at the woman. "In the exact same places as on Mai's."
"You showed him those!" Nishi gasped, looking at her daughter who refused to answer. "I-I thought you didn't want anyone to know?"
She remained silent.
"That was when my suspicions were confirmed." Naru continued. "What happened to Mai last night was indeed a message, a message telling us that your daughter had gone through the same thing, possibly more." Naru motioned for Lin to hand him a folder, it was black of course. "When we arrived you had a tendency of leaving the house, quite often as well. Your daughter, who was once an outgoing girl according to her teachers' comments, became shy and afraid of nearly everyone. Your late husband who was a gentle man. The violence started somewhere." He concluded as the others listened with interest. "You began to drink after your husband's passing. The cause of all this is you, Mrs. Gensai."
Mai shakily raised her hand. "Naru, you lost me..." she said.
"Don't you smell it, Mai?" he asked, not even attempting to look at her. "I thought you would certainly be the first to notice."
She huffed, but took a sniff and she smelled it. Just like the night before. Just like when Masako fell. It was hard to ignore.
Alcohol.
The workaholic teenager kept his gaze at the woman. "When Tsuyoshi passed, you resorted to drinking to drown out your pain, leading to you becoming violent and probably giving Jinru similar bruises as she has now. That was when the activity started back up in the house. Then you came to my office and I decided to take your case, you explained that your daughter was busy and we shouldn't bother her, however she was only busy because you told her she needed to be. Neither of you wanted anyone to find out, so when Mai awoke with the same injuries you were worried that someone would catch on." He paused taking in a breath and pulling out another page from the folder. "But you were worried about that the entire time weren't you? You would go out and get a drink and try to make some time to sober up, claiming you had to run errands.
"After the incident last night, you knew whoever was haunting this house was trying to reveal what you had done. Miss Hara being a medium, could channel that spirit and the truth would have been revealed. You turned off the camera and pushed her down the stairs in order to keep your secret hidden." He looked back to the woman before him. "What you weren't expecting was that the spirit wasn't trying to contact Miss Hara but someone who would understand your daughter better than anyone in this room. The spirit who resides here knows what you've done and wants you to stop. This spirit here is none other than your husband. He may or may not have attacked you as you claimed, seeing as we have caught no evidence of that happening while we were here, but Tsuyoshi would only do something like that as a warning. To show you the pain you made Jinru go through."
Naru's eyes seemed to soften as he watched the woman's knees wobble slightly and her face blanch. "'Smile, though your heart is aching,'" was all he needed to say for the woman to completely break down. "Tsuyoshi would sing that song to calm Jinru down as a child, maybe you should have tried to live by that after his death."
Nishi's knees had given in, everything she tried to hide had been revealed, her own daughter even began to cry. "I-it was just so hard!" the woman practically wailed. "I wasn't even he when he had that heart attack! Jinru was! And she didn't know what to do!"
"You blamed yourself, then turned it onto Jinru. Something so natural yet so horrible," Ayako commented closing her eyes.
"It's my fault..." Jinru whimpered, her head in her hands.
In the room filled with sobs, a certain brunette noticed something was missing. But what? John and Masako are at the hospital, and we're all here. Something just seems wrong, Mai wondered, scanning the faces in the room. The air seems heavy, but there also a bunch of emotion, don't spirits feed off of emotion?
Her questions were answered as she looked to her right and noticed Lin had stopped typing. So that's what was missing...
He stood up and placed a hand on the crying teen's shoulder, she picked her head up. "L-Lin?" Her eyes widened to his next move.
The room was shocked, aside from the crying woman who was nearby the door. Lin had leaned down and pressed his lips to the girl's forehead. "I'm proud of you," he said simply with a smile. He straightened and walked over the weeping older woman. He kneeled next to her. "Nishi-chan?" She lifted her head only slightly, then continued to cry. "Nishi-chan, I'm not angry."
"What on Earth?" Mai breathed out, only to have her employer place a hand up to silence her.
"I-it can't be," Nishi gasped, looking back at Lin. "Ts-Tsuyoshi?"
Lin nodded and smiled. "That's right," he extended his hand to lift her up, "it's me."
She accepted his hand and stood next to the tall man. "I-I...I'm so sorry!"
Lin pushed a lock of hair behind her ear, his eyes soft. "No, I'm sorry for leaving you both, but you guys are strong and I'll always be looking after you." He hugged her and she hugged back, more tears threatening to spill over. She didn't see that she was hugging one of the men she had just met, but she saw her husband. The kind and gentle soul he's always had. The soft smile on his face. The optimism in his voice.
"Tsuyoshi," she exhaled, gripping him tighter. "I'm so sorry."
"I know," Lin said, stroking her hair. "I know you aren't one to drink, and certainly not someone to resort to her fists rather than her mind. I know you're sorry for everything and I'm sorry for being unable to communicate until now. I had no power." He stepped back and looked down at her. "Please, know this, I still love you and Jinru and I always will. But please, don't do anything to harm each other again, it hurts me to think I cause all this."
"You didn't cause this, it's my fault, I should have been home-" Nishi tried to explain, but was cut off by lips pressed to her own.
"Didn't see this one coming," Yasuhara whispered to Monk as the two continued their embrace.
"Me neither, we probably shouldn't tell Madoka," he whispered back earning a "Shh!" from the priestess next to him.
The two broke apart after a minute and look into each other's eyes. "Don't go," Nishi pleaded, tearing forming in her eyes. Lin smiled sadly and motioned for Jinru to come to them.
She rushed over and Lin pulled her into a hug. "I'm so proud of you for being strong," he told her. He pulled Nishi in as well and held them close. "I have to go, but we'll meet again one day."
"D-Daddy," Jinru whimpered, not wanting to let go. "I love you."
"I love you, too. Both of you." Lin broke free of their combine grips and placed a gentle kiss on both of their foreheads. "But my time is almost up, just know I'll always be looking out for you."
The two nodded, fresh tears gliding down their cheeks, as Lin walked over to Mai who had then stood up. "Uh, Tsuyoshi?" she managed to spit out looking up at a smiling Lin,
"Mai, thank you," he said, giving a low deep bow to the shorter girl. "And forgive me for hurting you last night, but you were the only one who would understand. Thank you so much for understanding my message and helping my family."
"You're welcome," Mai bowed back. "But it was really you who helped your family."
"Not without your help, I'm glad that you remembered the lullaby that was in your dreams. It has a message I hope you can live by," Lin replied, turning to everyone else. "Thank you, everyone, now it's time for me to go. I'm sure we'll meet again someday, I just hope that day is a long, long time from now."
Lin closed his eyes as the mother and daughter held each other for support, they felt the air in the room lighten as the tall Chinese man collapsed to the floor. The two girls following suit more tears streaming their faces. "I'm so sorry, Jinru! I promise I won't do anything like that again!" Nishi cried as she hugged her daughter.
"I-I forgive you, M-Mom."
Ayako had gotten out of her seat to take Lin's pulse and make sure he was alive. "He's fine," she said after a few seconds. "I think he'll wake up soon."
Naru closed the folder and stood up. "Seeing as the case is solved and Tsuyoshi has crossed over, I see no point in harassing this family any further," he said, looking to the group. "We'll start dismantling Base and leave for the hotel to pack our things once Lin awakes. Yasuhara, I want you to call John and let him know."
"Aye-aye, Big Boss!" Yasuhara saluted, and raced out of the room leaving a confused Naru and a sweat-dropped Mai.
Naru turned to her. "Do you have something to do with that?"
Mai just shook her head with a sigh. "You don't wanna know."
***
Within an hour the team had packed all their gear and loaded it up in the van. A dazed Lin had awoken as well, desperately requesting aspirin for his migraine. "Nice work, Lin," Monk teased handing the man a glass of water and two tablets.
"What are you talking about, Takigawa?" he inquired annoyed.
"He's just talking about your make-out session with Nishi, it was so forward for someone like you, Lin," Ayako explained trying to contain her laughter.
Lin just pinched the bridge of his nose after he swallowed the pills. "Do I really need to remind you that that wasn't me?"
Ayako simply huffed and sat back in the living room of the small house. "You know, it was much more fun when Masako was possessed," the priestess pouted crossing her legs.
"You were also trying to trick her into thinking that she was all over Naru," Lin retorted bitterly. It seemed that it took more than ten seconds for aspirin to take effect, much to his annoyance.
"Yeah, but this time we weren't joking. You really were making out with Nishi," Monk added a smirk on his face.
"Madoka won't be happy when she hears this," Yasuhara sang as he entered the room.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Oh come on, we all know it's no secret that you and Madoka fancy each other," Yasuhara continued, shaking his head.
"Where did you get that idea?" The Chinese man raised his brow.
"Come now, Lin, I've seen the way you two look at each other," Ayako practically purred causing him to pinch the bridge of his nose again.
"You met her once," Lin defended.
"Denial, that's where every girl is gonna get you," Monk teased patting him on the back.
"I never thought we'd get him to admit it!" Yasuhara wondered aloud.
"Now I know how Miss Taniyama feels..." Lin grumbled, standing up.
"What was that?" Monk called out as the tall man began to leave the room.
"Nothing," he replied, stopping at the door. "But if you must know, I am in no way, shape, or form in any romantic relationship at this time."
He left after that, leaving one question remaining. "Did we just get some sort of confession?" the priestess asked, the men in the room just shrugged their shoulders.
***
"I cannot thank you enough!" Nishi exclaimed, bowing.
"It was our pleasure, Nishi," Mai replied bowing as well.
"Thank you, Mai," Jinru thanked, bowing to Mai. Mai bowed back and realized something.
"You didn't stutter that time," she said. Smiling, the girl only laughed.
"I-I, still stutter a little, b-but," she explained. "It's not as bad anymore."
"That's good." Mai smiled and looked to her boss.
"We should leave now, tell the others." He walked over to the van, leaving Mai to glare at him.
"Forgive him, he's just..." she tried to think of a polite word to describe her boss. None came to mind. "Like that..."
"It's fine, thank you so much and I hope you have a safe journey home."
Mai gave to two one last smile before racing into the house to gather the rest of their crew. Happy to see a happy ending yet somewhat sad that another case had to end so soon.
***
Masako checked out fine but needed to stay the night so the doctors could be sure, Ayako drove John's car to the hospital to pick him up and they headed to gather their things and check out of the hotel. Then they all began the trip home. And for Mai, the trip to missed homework.
Mai's apartment was empty as usual, not long after she arrived her trusted neighbor came over to give her the homework her friends had dropped off. She thanked the older woman and rubbed her head. She felt gross and the shower was calling out to her.
She stepped into the tiny bathroom removing her clothing and several of the bandages on her body and immediately stepped to the steamy shower. However it was only when she reached for the soap did she realize something.
The burns and scratches were gone! And the bruises were disappearing!
"But I just got these this morning..." she wondered aloud, her eyes wide.
Then she remembered Tsuyoshi. Of course! He may have done this to her but just as a message.
"He just wanted me to know what happened, not be forced to heal from it like Jinru."
She was indeed grateful, especially since she had gym the next day and wouldn't want to explain how she had gotten such abusive wounds!
***
Another case for the books! I hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think. Next case will be up not this Sunday but the following Sunday so keep your eye out. In the meantime...
Case 4: Shoji No Noroi- SPR is asked to investigate a hotel with some very strange history. With such ferocious energy roaming around the halls will the hotel's business, and everyone's safety, be in jeopardy?