Chapter 2-Change
November Day 1, 2:03 A.M.
"No! John!" Tears streamed her face as she sat up. Her breaths came in quick huffs as her body shook.
Tears hit her shaking hands as she looked down at them. They had made their way to her face as sobs rocked her small frame. She could still see her blonde friend's dazed face as the knife made its way toward him.
The same knife that had been in her hand.
Gritting her teeth, Mai threw her fist sideways into the wall next to her. The shock reverberated up into her arm and she knew she would have another bruise later. "Damn it!" she hissed as her hand throbbed. When had she begun cursing like a truck driver?
She leaned against the wall, wiping away her drying tears. For the first time in a very long time she noticed just how tiny her hands were. She had always been a small girl, but she never remembered her hands being so thin, her knuckles sticking out despite her hands not being clenched. Her wrists had become so tiny, when did she lose this weight?
She got up and padded over to her bathroom. She splashed water on her face a few times and let the water drip off her for a moment. She used the small towel nearby to dry her face, when she noticed her hair. It had been nearly six months since she last cut it. No longer was it in that pixie bob anymore, now it was closer to her shoulders, sort of like Masako's hairstyle. However, because of the style she had been cutting it at her hair had formed layers that, despite her bedhead-ness, were framing her face. Why did it take until just now for her to notice these changes?
She looked back into her reflection. Dark circles were caked under her eyes, her cheeks were thinner and hollowing out a little, she even had several zits on her forehead and chin. She tied her hair back and washed her face quickly, realizing how long it had been since she really was trying to clear up any acne. Drying her face, she looked back and saw her skin, such a pale color. Her lips had been nibbled and chewed to the point of being a raw slab of skin on her face. Her nails had been chewed to the nub as well. Why had no one pointed these things out to her?
Are you okay? The question her friends had been asking her for months. Maybe they were trying to give her a hint this whole time? It only took a couple cases and a session with a therapist-like guy for her to figure it out.
And what about these nightmares? Sure, over the past year she had gotten used to her visions and dreams becoming terrifying especially during a case, but this one had nothing to do with her current case, right? And she had been waking up in the middle of the night due to similar dreams for nearly two months. There was something beyond visions in these nightmares.
She had felt so confident earlier after speaking with Hozumi, why does she feel so lousy now? Shouldn't things be a little better now?
It's going to take more than one session for your nightmares to go away. Mai begrudgingly remembered her new friend saying. She had been hoping that he was wrong. Maybe that was wishful thinking; maybe it was her getting a big head that things were going to get better. At the very least she could finally see the mess she had become, aside from the nightmares.
"Well, Mai," she said to her reflection. "They say the first step is admitting something is wrong." She untied her hair and ran her fingers through it, smoothing it out. "Now, the question is, are you going to do something about it?"
And just like that, the little spark on her candle became a tiny flame. A very tiny flame. But a flame nonetheless.
***
November Day 1, 11:15 A.M.
Mai had half-fibbed the day before when she told her boss about her final appointment with her doctor. It was actually today.
So, Mai found herself sitting on that uncomfortable bed in her doctor's office, waiting for her doctor to give her some type of information. Instead, he just sat there studying the photographs of her burns from six weeks earlier.
"Well, Miss Taniyama, you are one lucky girl!" he said finally, putting the photographs back in her file. "Your burns have healed almost miraculously, and with very limited scarring." He took her arm, turned it over and lightly ran his fingers over the skin, giving Mai goosebumps. "And it appears there was little to no nerve damage done during that accident. We determined weeks ago that you had no internal damage due to the electrical shock. You are a bit of a miracle-girl, aren't you?"
"I guess I am..." Mai replied with a half smile. "Dr. Imai, is this really my last visit?"
The doctor leaned back in his rolling chair. "As far as I'm concerned, Miss Taniyama, the burns have healed, and you no longer have a need for the medicine and scar cream. So, yes, this is your last visit to me." He stood up and headed for the door. "Let's just hope I don't see you back in here for a long time. If you notice anything alarming about the scars; burning, itching, redness, that sort of thing, give me a call. Other than that you are free to go."
"Thank you, Dr. Imai," she said as the man walked out.
***
"Mai!" The brunette heard a familiar voice exclaim as she tried to find a seat at lunch.
After her doctor's appointment, the girl had made it late to school, just in time for her lunch break. As she tried to find a seat, Michiru had stood up waving her over. "Mai! Where were you yesterday?" Keiko demanded. "We thought you were on another case with your very attractive boss!"
"That narcissist? Why would I want to be on a case with him!" she joked as she sat down.
"Because he's freaking gorgeous!" Keiko retorted.
"With a freaking ego to match," Mai muttered with a roll of her eyes.
"Admit it, Mai, you're so into him!" Michiru teased, nudging her friend.
"Anyway, Mai, where were you yesterday?" Keiko moved on. "We really did think you had another case."
"I was actually babysitting my neighbors, their nanny cancelled last minute," she explained, opening her bento.
"And this morning?" Michiru pressed.
Mai gestured to her arms. "Final doctor's appointment, my arms are finally healed and with minimal scarring, thankfully," she answered, showing off her healed arms.
"You have always been a danger magnet, in grade school, in high school, and especially at work!" Michiru rolled her eyes. She took a bite of the sandwich she had packed. "You know, from what you've been telling me, your job has been getting more and more dangerous. You sure you're okay with it?"
Mai paused and took a breath, she gave a smile. "It can be dangerous at times and scary most of the time, but it's not that bad," she explained. Her friends gave her a skeptical look, much like they have for a while now.
But this time she knew exactly why.
***
November Day 1, 4:02 P.M.
Our favorite little brunette ran through the rush-hour traffic of Shibuya, knowing that once again she would be late, but at least not nearly as late as the night before. A glimpse of the parking lot behind the office was finally in sight, and as she weaved in and out of the other passersby, she knew she was almost there. Just another block and...
"You're late," Lin greeted the girl, very much like the young narcissist would have had he been present.
Mai huffed and puffed once she made it to the lot. She noticed that Lin wasn't driving the van, in fact it looked like he was driving Ayako's car. "Sorry, I didn't get out of school until late," she huffed, climbing into the passenger seat. "I never even had the chance to get changed."
Lin just nodded and shifted the car into gear as Mai fastened her seatbelt. This is Ayako's car! Her mind concluded as her co-assistant turned onto the main road.
In rush-hour traffic it took nearly an hour to get to the cemetery, and once their silent trip had ended, Mai realized what would really make this case different compared to their past ones. Lin parked the car and escorted her to the rest of the gang, they had set up Base in the caretaker's office, just before the rain began.
"It's a good thing we set up those tents above the cameras," Monk commented just as Mai and Lin walked in. "Jeez! You two are soaked!"
Well, they weren't quite soaked, but the rain definitely got the two. Lin helped her remove her coat and she ran her hands through her damp hair. It really has gotten long...
"It's not that bad, actually," Mai replied, sitting down next to her brother-like friend. "Where is everybody?"
"Miss Hara will not be joining us this case," Naru answered from the table of monitors that was much smaller than what she was used to. "She is still filming in Switzerland and won't be back for another week or so."
"Yasuhara couldn't get time out of class to join us and John is in Kyoto for the next couple of days," Ayako finished.
"Why is he in Kyoto?"
"For Daisuke Ishikawa's baptism," the priestess answered. "It's tomorrow afternoon, and I was planning on attending, but I have been caught up at my day job and then we have this case."
"Same here," Monk added, "I don't think John would have missed it unless he was dying, he said that he would pretty much be our representatives."
"And Madoka?"
"She is still in England," Naru answered again.
"Still?"
"Yes."
Knowing that she would not get anywhere with her boss, Mai rolled her eyes. "What about Kiko?"
"Why would she be here?" her boss inquired.
"She's joined us on a couple of cases so I thought-"
"I never gave her a job, unless you would like her to have yours."
"You had to go there, didn't you?" Mai grumbled and rolled her eyes.
Serious as ever, Naru just continued looking over their case file. Mai gave a little huff and turned back to her friends. "Anything remotely interesting happen yet?"
"You mean, aside from what we just saw?" Monk raised a brow with a smirk. Mai gave him a look and he laughed. "No, but this case might be harder to solve than I originally thought."
"How so?"
"We are on holy ground and some spirit is trying to vandalize it, which is strange enough, but we don't even have Masako to give us any hints about the identity. And our go-to researcher is currently unavailable," he explained. "Hey, Naru, are you sure that this isn't just a case of teens vandalizing the place?"
"From what the caretaker and the police have told us, that doesn't appear likely," he answered just as there was a knock at the door.
Lin opened it and two officers walked in. "Sorry to intrude, but Officer Atsushi thought he should give his side of the story," the older of the two gentlemen explained, with a bow.
"That is fine," Naru replied, gesturing to the chair. "Take a seat."
The officer did as he was told and Mai could have swore she heard Ayako comment on his attractiveness. Doesn't she have a boyfriend? Mai wondered, raising a brow at the priestess. Though the officer was attractive, he was fairly young, couldn't be older than thirty, had light brown hair and dark brown eyes. He was maybe just a hair shorter than the narcissist himself, but had a more defined build. Lin opened his laptop and took notes from the table of monitors.
"What happened last Thursday evening?" Naru asked him, comparing his story to his notes.
"I was on duty with Officer Ito, by the time we got here it was down pouring so we sought shelter in this shed. The rain had died down for a little while and we checked out the grounds, it was windy but otherwise quiet. Then a loud clap of thunder startled us both and we heard a shriek. We ran toward the area we heard it come from and it started pouring again. By the time we made it there one of the graves had been dug up and three headstones smashed. No footprints could be found, no matter how much we searched," he explained, shaking his head. "I've never really believed in this sort of thing but I don't know what to make of it!"
"That will be all, Officer Atsuchi," Naru replied.
With a roll of her eyes, Mai stood up. "What he means is, thank you for your time and we will do everything possible to figure this out," Mai translated with a bow.
"You're welcome," Atsuchi replied with a bow and met Ito by the door.
"If you will excuse us, we will make our rounds and make sure there are no trespassers," the older officer explained with a bow and they both left the shed.
"Well, he didn't share anything more than what we were already told," Ayako griped, placing her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands in the chair she sat. "Though he was very attractive."
"Don't you have a boyfriend?" Monk raised a brow.
"Doesn't mean I can't look!" she retorted with a glare.
"Please keep you personal lives out of the workplace," Naru scolded from the monitors.
"Naru, you don't even pay us," Monk replied with a smirk.
"I also don't have to ask you to join in on these cases," Naru snapped. "Or would you rather I ask you to leave right now?"
"Jeez, all right, Naru, you win," Monk shook his head.
"Miss Matsuzaki, Mai, do a walk-through of the grounds, we don't have Miss Hara with us, but see if you can get a feel of the property yourselves," Naru ordered.
"Naru, it's raining cats and dogs out there!" Mai argued.
"My hair is only going to get worse," Ayako complained.
"Unfortunately, that is not something that can be helped," Naru replied. "The sooner we solve this case, the sooner we will all be out of the rain."
Grumbling, the two ladies put their raincoats on, took their umbrellas and marched out of the shed. "The hell's wrong with that asshole!" Ayako groaned as she stomped away from the shed.
"He's a workaholic, what did you expect?" Mai sighed.
"That was cruel, Naru," Monk couldn't help but laugh. "But I know that you're not going to let me stay warm and dry if your making the girls go out there."
"Precisely why I think it's time we visit the vandalized graves," Naru replied. "Lin, keep an eye on the cameras, if anything happens call me."
With a nod from the Chinese assistant, the two set off into the torrential downpour.
***
"You know, I probably wouldn't mind the rain so much if it weren't windy!" Ayako grumbled as she was drenched due to a gust of wind blowing the rain under her umbrella.
"Don't lie, Ayako!" Mai called back, her stockings had become soaked through and her raincoat providing only limited warmth. "Unless it's partly cloudy, dry, and comfortably cool, you will mind the weather!"
"Yeah, you're probably right." The two began to laugh. It had been a while since Mai and Ayako laughed like that in a long time. Too long...Mai concluded.
"So what do you think about this place?" Ayako asked after a minute or so.
"We're back to this? What am I Masako?" Mai raised a brow.
"The closest thing we have to her, plus your intuition has been spot on recently," Ayako replied giving her a look. "Don't let this turn into another conversation that we had last case."
Mai just gave a sigh and closed her eyes. How does she even do this? Mai wondered. Masako is lucky she has no issue feeling spirits, but when I have to fill in for her I have no idea what to do! It's not like I have that sense from that movie-
That was when Mai noticed what she should have noticed earlier. It happened at every other investigation except this one. "I don't feel anything," she said, opening her eyes.
"Wow, for once I really wish we had Masako here-"
"No. That's not what I meant." Mai let out a breath and gave an almost confused look. "At most of our other cases, I had a creepy feeling where it was almost too uncomfortable to stay. Here, it feels peaceful, kind of like the Gensai house."
"So, there are no spirits here?" Ayako tried to follow, raising a brow.
"No, I'm saying as of right now, I don't feel anything malicious," Mai elaborated, shivering as the cold started to get the better of her.
"Want to head back to the shed? Naru brought a camp stove and tea, Monk brought a whole bunch of bottled water that we could use to make the tea or we could make the hot chocolate I brought," Ayako offered, but Mai shook her head.
"Actually, I kind of want to take a look at the vandalized graves. See if maybe the officers or Naru missed something. If you're cold you can go back to the shed."
"Mai, you are a danger magnet ghost or no ghost," the priestess shook her head and shivered as a particularly cold wind chilled her to the bone. "So if you think I'm gonna-a-achoo!" She sniffled and straightened herself. "Let you go off by yourself, you're crazy."
"Ayako, I think you caught that bug that Kiko had last case," Mai sighed, pulling a handkerchief from her coat pocket. "Let's get you back to the shed and we can make that hot coco."
"That's all I ask," she sniffled with a chuckle.
***
"When I saw those photos, I thought that the ground was more so dirt than grass," Monk commented, crouching down by one of the headstones. "The ground is already uneven as it is, it wouldn't be too hard to hide footprints."
"Why go to the trouble to hide the footprints, then?" Naru wondered aloud.
"To avoid getting caught?" Monk tried, Naru shook his head.
"With the amount of rain we've had recently, any footprints would have been washed away." The narcissist crouched down to examine the pieces of rock that remained. "The manor in which these stones were smashed would have taken quite a bit of strength. This incident happened several times already, why would a human come back again and again to do the same damage, especially knowing that the police have gotten involved?"
"Good point," Monk agreed, and looked at the young president of SPR. "Now tell me this, why would a spirit destroy headstones?"
"That is something we need to figure out."
***
Mai handed the priestess a steaming cup after they had settled inside the shed. "You know you can take off your coat," Ayako teased, taking a sip. "You'll probably warm up faster."
"I'm fine, I still want to check out the graves," she replied, pouring a cup of tea for Lin, to which he nodded his thanks.
"You're crazy if you want to go ba-a-achoo!" She sneezed into her sleeve. "Back out there."
"Well, you're in no shape to go out there, and Naru and Monk are already there, I'll be fine if I go and meet them-" And then the door opened.
"Whoo! It's raining cats and dogs out there!" Monk exclaimed, shaking out his umbrella and closing it and the door.
"Where's Naru?" the brunette asked.
"He actually left before me, I thought he had already returned," he replied, earning a concerned look from Lin. "He might have gone to see the other vandalized graves. Is he on the monitors?"
The Chinese man let out a breath as soon as he looked at the monitors. "He's by the first of the vandalized graves." Mai peered over her co-assistant's shoulder.
"Oh, I know where that is," Mai declared, grabbing her umbrella and heading for the door.
"Mai, don't go back out there by your-a-a-achoo!" The priestess ended up sneezing into her cup, gave it a disgusted look and placed it on the table next to her.
"Yeah, I can go with you," Monk offered.
"I'll be fine, you're soaked to the bone and there are cameras everywhere," Mai argued, dropping her umbrella and walking out.
"She left her umbrella," Lin noticed.
"Eh, let her go, she's right, we have cameras everywhere. And the cemetery isn't too big, if she needs help we can be there in an instant," Monk decided, sitting back down.
"That's not what I'm worried about," Ayako muttered.
***
Mai knew she forgot her umbrella, but the rain didn't really bother her and at this point she was still too soaked to care. What she really wanted was to see the gravesites. If the damage was really caused by a spirit, something told her she would know if she took a look herself. And if Naru was already over there, maybe they could bounce ideas from one another and actually work together to solve this case, instead of arguing like their last couple of cases.
She still felt that calm feeling she had earlier, and in a cemetery, wouldn't she feel a little more creeped out? There were people buried beneath every step she made, the very thought would make anyone shake with uneasiness. Yet everything seemed peaceful, if it weren't for the rain, Mai probably wouldn't mind walking through here, it had been a long time since she had been there.
The rain seemed to come down harder and she was regretting forgetting her umbrella. Then again, if I had brought it the wind probably would have blown it out of my hands, she told herself as she made her way up a hill.
It was an area that not many graves had been placed. Extra room for anyone who doesn't want to cremate family members or keep the ashes, she guessed. She looked back behind her to see all the graves, trying to find her employer clad in black, most likely with an umbrella. "Where did he go?" she wondered aloud.
With a sigh, she decided just to head for the damaged gravesites. "If he's concerned about where I am, he can just check the cameras," she decided, walking down the hill.
The air suddenly chilled and not from the wind. Mai thought that the rain and the cold air was finally getting to her, her legs and hands were already numb. Yet, she felt a shiver go up her spine, it made her stop in her tracks and suck in a breath, the rain dripping down the back of her neck wasn't helping either.
"Ah!" The shout startled the petite brunette as she turned around to see a black figure tumbling down the hill, confirming the creepy feeling.
With a shout from herself, she leaped out of the way and chased after the falling figure. "Naru!" she exclaimed as he finally came to a stop just a few feet away from the more recently placed gravestones. She knelt down in the mud next to him. "Naru, are you okay?"
Covered in mud, he sat up, gripping his head. "What are you doing here?" was his first response as Mai instinctively check his head for cuts. "You're like ice, you should be back in the shed."
"Naru, you just tumbled down a hill! You're lucky there weren't any tombstones or that you didn't hit the ones down here! You could have been seriously hurt!" she scolded like a mother.
"I'm fine, I lost my footing let's get back to the shed." Winded, Naru stood back up and staggered a bit. Mai did her best to stabilize him.
"What were you doing up there?" she asked as they followed the trail.
"What were you doing up there?" he retorted, his assistant gave him a look.
"I asked you first." It was his turn to give her a look and she just sighed. "I was trying to find you and since you wanted me to try and get a feel of the property, I thought that I should visit the damaged graves." She looked back up at him. "Your turn."
Naru let out a breath as they started to see the shed. "I wanted to get a better look at cemetery and see if there was a pattern with the vandalism."
"See if maybe we could pinpoint the next target?" He nodded. "Naru, are you sure you're alright?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" he answered.
"You're staggering and using me to stand up, and you've also been distracted since you fell," she explained, looking up at him.
"I lost my footing and twisted my ankle in the fall, that's what is distracting me," he chided, straightening up and walking into the shed on his own.
Mai couldn't help but stare wide-eyed and mouth gaping open. The rain had never ceased since she got the cemetery and her coat was no longer providing her warmth, with a hollow feeling in her core, she didn't feel much of anything to begin with. Naru seemed concerned when he felt how cold her hand was yet stomped inside the shed to avoid her questions.
He's lying, she concluded rushing inside a minute later.