Chapter 5-Target
December Day 3 8:15 P.M.
"Mai, head up and straight, please," Michiru scolded, physically moving the young girl's head.
"Sorry," she replied weakly, her mind was somewhere else entirely. To be perfectly honest, she was a little upset with herself for allowing this to get to her so much. She was there to have girl time with her friends, yet this case had taken such a turn that she couldn't keep her mind off of it.
"Wow, did you and Naru get into an argument or something?" Keiko asked, sitting cross-legged on the couch with textbooks and notebooks strewn around her. On the couch, across the floor, on the coffee table, the little buggers were everywhere. "Or maybe it was with Shouta?"
Mai just sighed, slumping down in her seat. "C'mon! Do you want this uneven? Keiko you need to stop distracting her!" Michiru scolded, as Mai straightened up and kept her head forward.
"No, it wasn't a fight, it was-"
Kimi to boku to, Sakurabiyori.
"Oh jeez!" Michiru exclaimed, frustrated that she could only get halfway through Mai's hair. She had never dealt with her hair being so long before. "Hello?"
Judging by the surprised look on her face, Keiko really had no clue who it was that had called the young hair dresser's phone. Mai had no idea because she was terrified to turn in any way from the position she had been put into. Suddenly the phone was put to the petite brunette's ear. She grasped it with a suspicious look on her face.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Mai! It's Shouta!" she heard his familiar voice and immediately relaxed.
"Hey, Shouta," she replied with a smile. "Why did you call Michiru?"
"I'm just checking up on you, you never returned my call yesterday. And you weren't answering your house phone and you don't have a cell phone."
"Oh, I'm sorry, it's been so hectic this week, exams and we have a new case-"
"It's okay, I figured as much," he replied with a laugh. "I know you've been really stressed out but I just want to make sure you are still up for the party on Saturday."
"Of course, I am!" she answered instantly. "I'm actually over here studying with Keiko and Michiru along with helping get ready for the party."
"Perfect, now, am I meeting you there? Am I picking you up from your place? Work?"
"It depends on how this case goes," she replied honestly. "If we finish before the end of the week, it will depend on if Naru makes me work on Saturday, where you would pick me up. If we don't finish before Saturday, then I'll probably have my stuff over here at Michiru's and meet you here as soon as I am done for the day."
"Fair enough, when do you think you'll have a definite answer?"
"Would Friday be too late?"
"Not at all, I'll talk to you later. I love you," he said, she could practically hear the smile in his voice.
"I love you too. I'll let you know for sure on Friday." With that she hung up the phone only for her friends to go into fit of...
"AAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!"
The teenager couldn't help but blush at her friends' reactions. "Thank God you guys waited until I hung up for that," she said, handing the phone back to its rightful owner.
"Oh, come on, Mai, that was adorable," Keiko argued, but then looked to Michiru. "How did he even get your number?"
"I gave it to him when we all hung out one time, in case he needed to reach Mai and she wasn't home," she explained, going back to work on Mai's head.
"Damn, we really need to get you a cell phone," Keiko commented, flipping through the scattered books around her.
"And how long have you two been dating? Already using the 'L' word?" Michiru raised a brow. "Someone's head over heels."
Another blush crept up her cheeks. "Oh, leave her alone," Keiko chided. "This is her first real relationship, she can go in fast if she wants to."
"Okay, well, Mai, what do you think?" Michiru asked, ceasing her cutting.
"If we're moving too fast?"
Michiru scoffed and pulled out a mirror. "No! About your hair! I'm done!"
The style wasn't much different, just less layers. It was just straight across her shoulders, similar to Masako's but longer. Michiru also decided to give her side bangs and angled her face differently from before. Oddly enough, Mai liked new look. It was time for something new and she had let her hair grow out just enough to do that.
"It looks great, Michiru!" she gave a genuine smile. "You've outdone yourself!"
"I'm glad you like it!" she exclaimed ruffling the girl's hair.
"Michiru!" Keiko and Mai scolded. The girl just gave a cheeky grin.
***
December Day 4, 2:34 A.M.
Despite things seeming to get better, Mai was still having her nightmares. Which was annoying, especially at sleepovers. Hence why she was sort of just staring at the ceiling while her friends slept on either side of her. She looked over at the clock and realized that it was too early to go for a run. Not that she would be able to go for a run, Michiru's wasn't anywhere near her usual route. And she had no running buddy, neither one of the girls next to her would ever get up early just to go for a run.
So Mai took a deep breath and continued to stare at the ceiling. This would be a long night, especially as she remembered the case she would have to get back to after her exams. That hitogata...
That was very disturbing. The last time she dealt with a hitogata was over a year ago. Unless you count Yasuhara's high school, but they were to take the punishment of the curse, not cast a curse on someone. So, what was going on there? Did someone put a hex on the little boy and that was why he got so sick?
That would be horrible! She muttered to herself.
But what did that have to do with the haunting? It just wasn't adding up. And the look on Naru's face...
"Mai this is to stay between you and I, I don't want the rest of the team to know just yet."
Why exactly was he trying to hide it? What ideas were swirling around in that narcissistic head of his? He had that analytical looked in his eyes as he examined the little piece of wood with some thought. When he looked to her his beautiful blue eyes held sense of suspicion and worry-
And Mai blushed at her last thought. She hadn't thought anything of her boss like that in a very long time! She could just imagine what Ayako would say or Michiru and Keiko-Shouta! She was dating Shouta and still had a hopeless crush on her boss! How ridiculous could she get!
She stifled a groan as she turned to her side. She was sleep deprived and stressed. Yes, that was it; she needed some extra sleep and these exams to be finished and this case to be closed as quickly as possible. It's not wrong to admire a physical feature on a friend, either, right? Employer or not, he did have very nice eyes. And Shouta was her boyfriend for multiple reasons. He was rather attractive, brown hair and eyes, tall, built but not overly muscular. He was funny, nice, and treated her with more respect than Naru ever had.
Then again he is actually teaching me more about ghost hunting, she thought to herself. Maybe he really does care.
Oh stop it, Mai! She scolded internally.
***
December Day 4, 12:35 P.M.
Mai had finished her exams for the day and was heading to the main gate to meet up with whomever Naru had ordered to pick her up this time. She was in a bit of a daze as she walked the empty stairwell. "Mai! Look out!" she heard a screech and something tumbling down the stairs behind her.
She turned around to see gleaming silver and a cart rolling down behind her. It was heading for the science wing, she knew once she saw the scalpels flying off toward her direction. The terrified faces at the top of the stairs made her realize that she needed to react. Time seemed to slow down.
She couldn't go up, that was where the danger was. If she went down, the cart would only follow her. That left one other choice.
She heard someone at the top of the stairs scream as Mai ran toward the banister and jumped. She had jumped a little too high and instead of landing on it, she kept her grip tight enough to the railing as she dangled over two floors below her. "Mai!" she finally heard what they were screaming as she watched the cart tumble all the way down. Thankful that she thought so quickly.
"I'm okay!" she managed to shout back as her feet dangled.
"I'm so sorry!" Mai looked up to see Sora grabbing her arms to help her up. "We were trying to get to the cart to the science wing, but it just started rolling out of nowhere!"
After a minute, Mai was up and over the ledge, her heart still racing. "Mai!" It was then that Mai realized it was her science teacher, Mrs. Yamanaka. "Are you hurt? I'm so sorry, thank goodness you were the only one in this stairway and that you were able to think so quickly!" she exclaimed as she ran down to check on the girl.
"I'm fine, Mrs. Yamanaka," Mai said, releasing the breath she had been holding.
"Do you want to go to the nurse's office? Your hands are all cut up," Sora asked, examining her hands. There were two long cuts across both hands. How she ended up with them she wasn't sure. She didn't remember feeling them until just now.
"They aren't deep, I should be fine. My ride is probably out waiting for me-"
"Sora, take her to the infirmary, the scalpels were clean, but I don't want to risk an infection," Yamanaka said, looking down at where the cart landed. "I'll clean this up before anymore students get hurt."
"Yes, ma'am," Sora replied, leading Mai away.
She knew that Ayako or Yasuhara were waiting for her outside. She was already late; this whole ordeal wasn't helping her. Oh well, what can I do? She wondered to herself, as the nurse wrapped up her hands.
"So, how did this happen?" the nurse looked up at Sora then at Mai.
"If we told you, you won't believe it," they both said simultaneously.
"Do I want to know?"
The two students shook their heads, but Sora explained the accident as Mai looked up at the clock. It's already after one, knowing them, whoever decided to come pick me up is sure to start getting worried. She thought to herself.
"Taniyama, Mai, please come to the main office," the secretary's voice came over the loudspeaker. "Taniyama, Mai, to the main office."
"And suddenly I feel like a seven year old," she said to herself, earning a chuckle from the boy next to her. "Thank you for wrapping my hands, I'll see you later."
With that she ran out the door for the office to scold whoever had decided to have her name broadcasted on the loudspeaker. "I heard to report here," she said to the secretary, once she finally reached the office.
"Yes, your ride is waiting for you outside, you were supposed to have left forty minutes ago," she replied.
"My test took longer than I had originally thought," the girl lied. No sense in worrying anyone about the freak accident, right?
"Okay. Have a nice day, Miss Taniyama."
At least it was a somewhat nice day out. Only partially cloudy and it didn't feel like it was in the -20s. It was cold, but her coat was enough to keep her warm. She continued walking towards the main gate, trying to find the car that would take her to work. Out of nowhere, she stopped. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and a chill went down her spine. Her heart raced a mile a minute as her mind tried to process what was about to happen. "Miss!" the cry came, and only then could Mai turn her head to see what her senses were trying to warn her about.
It was too cold to be cutting the grass, she knew. In fact, it would be snowing soon, which would defeat the purpose of cutting it anyway. Yet there she was, frozen and the automatic mower heading straight for her. She tried to react, but her feet were glued to the ground. She physically tried to jump, but stayed in place. Time stood still, yet the mower was moving at the speed of a car on the highway in her mind. She had to figure out a way to get out of there. "Get out of the way! I can't stop it!" the gardener shouted as he ran after the machine.
I can't move! She wanted to shout, but her voice wasn't there. The mower was a mere feet away when she heard "Mai!" and felt an arm around her waist and was literally dragged to safety. Or well, lifted. Because the arm that had grabbed her was attached to the man who was over a foot taller than she. The gardener was then able to hop on the machine and shut it down, only then could Mai let go of her breath,
"Are you okay?" her rescuer asked, she looked up to see her co-assistant-slash-boss's guardian, if she added everything up right.
"Yeah, I'm fine, thanks," she said after a moment.
"What happened to your hands?" he asked, noticing the bandages.
"It's the reason why I was so late," she stated, trying to hide the bandages. The cuts were deeper than she originally thought, she could see specs of blood making their way through the white gauze.
"I take it, similar to what just happened?" She could only nod. "Why didn't you move?"
What a dumb question, she thought to herself. If I could have jumped out of the way, of course I would!
"I-" but she cut herself off, another bad feeling hit the pit of her stomach. Something else was going to happen.
"Let's get you to the school," Lin suggested, placing a hand on her back, guiding her toward the gate. "You can explain on the way."
He must have felt her uneasiness as well.
On the ride, Mai explained her incident in the stairway. And then again what had happened in the courtyard. And she realized something about her quiet coworker. He may seem uninterested in whatever is going on and won't join into the conversation, but he was an excellent listener. "So that's how your hands were cut up," he said after she finished her story. "And for whatever reason, you couldn't move when we were in the courtyard."
"I don't know why, I tried to move but I couldn't," she said again as Lin pulled into the school. "So, were you worried when I wasn't outside when you came to pick me up?"
"I wasn't necessarily worried, but when 12:45 hit and Naru called me wondering if we were on our way to the school, I'm sure you can gather the rest," he said, parking the van.
"Oh yes I can," she said opening her door.
"I told him you were probably running late with your exams, but he insisted on me paging you to come out." Together they walked into the school. "To be fair, I did wait another twenty minutes before I went in to ask where you were."
"Thanks, had I not gone to the nurse's office I probably would have been out there when Naru called you," she replied.
"There you are," she heard her boss say as she walked into Base. Naru stood up and headed for the table that had several items strewn about it. He looked down at her sides. "What happened to your hands?"
"Oh I-"
"She fell after she finished her exams and had to go to the nurse's office," Lin answered for her. She resisted the urge to raise a brow at him, but managed her usual "he's right" sigh.
"Wow, Mai, you're a danger magnet, a spirit magnet," Monk commented sitting at the table. "And a bit clumsy."
"Why thank you, Monk," she sighed, crossing her arms. "With the last two years of this job, I never would have figured it out."
"That's right, it's been almost two years since you started working for SPR," Monk's voice held a tone of awe as he spoke.
"It will be two years mid April," she answered, as she sat on the table much like she had been doing the whole case. "I started with the case at my school, right after my freshman year started."
"Wow, you're going to be a senior soon..." This earned the girl an almost saddened look from the brotherly monk. "You're growing up fast, kiddo. Soon you'll be graduating and college and the next thing I'll know, I'll be an old monk still figuring out my life and you'll be married with kids. Man I feel old."
"Mai, tea." She had never been so happy to hear the order in the nearly two years she worked with him. "Lin, go with her."
She didn't even care that she had to be escorted. She wasn't up for sappy realizations. She could use some tea. Especially after her two close calls. "Sure thing," she replied, hopping off the table and stepping out.
Lin followed her, which was perfect, because she was a tad curious about his lie earlier. "So, lying to Naru, I'm pretty sure he won't be pleased when he figures it out," Mai said, leaning against the counter as the kettle heated on the stove. "Care to explain?"
The tall Chinese man was also leaning against the counter in the teacher's lounge. He had his arms crossed and was silently wondering when his co-assistant had become so bold. "Naru has had you on a bit of a tight leash recently, granted he has had a rather good reason-"
"Because I attract danger with every step I take and just can't hold my own-"
"No." He didn't raise his voice, or change his tone. He was as matter of fact as he had always been. "You do attract danger, but you have proven yourself to be able to hold your own, as seen with the nursing home case." Now he had peaked her interest. "However, you haven't quite been yourself the last few cases and it's troubling the team. Even Naru's taken notice."
Great, another possible intervention, her mind mentally rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I know, I went through a bit of a personality change, but I've been doing my best to get through it and I've-"
"You have indeed gotten better," he commented as the kettle whistled. "You've been able to create a sense of normalcy when you are not on cases which helps to balance out the negative toll the frequent cases have placed on you." She could have been wrong, but she could have sworn she heard him chuckle. Then again, he did have a miniscule smirk on his face. "Naru tends to worry, believe it or not. Hence why he is always very cautious. I chose not to tell him about what happened at your school, because he probably wouldn't let you even leave Base. Especially with your track record."
"So, you didn't tell him so that I could still make him tea?" she asked as she let the tea steep in the pot.
"You've seen Naru when he hasn't had his tea, no one wants that," he explained. "Besides, no one seems to make it like you do. And would you want to spend the rest of the case in that room?"
"No, I suppose you're right," she smiled, pouring several cups of tea. "I also take it, you'll eventually tell Naru what really happened?"
"That would depend on what happens today," he said. "If you have another incident similar to what happened at school, it could have something to do with this case."
She placed the cups on a tray and brushed some hair out of her face. It was going to take her some time to get used to this haircut.
"You're hair looks nice, by the way," Lin said, as they started to walk out. "You just cut it, right?"
Lin always knew just how to startle the girl. Whether it was with a laugh, tension, or a compliment, he had just the perfect timing to catch her off guard. "Thanks, yeah, I had my friend Michiru cut it last night. I'm not used to it yet."
"Well, it's a nice change."
***
The walk back to Base was in oddly comfortable silence. That was until Lin opened the door for her and Yasuhara and Naru were at the table waiting for them. Something didn't feel right, then she saw the basket on the table. "Tea, anyone?" Mai offered with a shrug, because how else do you respond to a scene like this?
"After you left yesterday," Naru began, ignoring her offer, but taking the tea anyway. "Yasuhara, Lin and I searched the areas with the most activity, after what you and I had found in classroom 3B, it needed to be done."
"We found several more of those hitogatas," Yasuhara added, pushing the basket towards the high schooler. Mai reached into the basket and pulled out a few of the wooden dolls.
"Minato Yoshida," she read aloud, turning over another one. "Amai Nakahara." There was something familiar about these names. Then it hit her. "The book from the library."
"What about it, Mai?" Yasuhara asked, as the girl ran for the book with the list of words they found with the numbers from the E.V.P.
"I know what the words meant," she said, placing the list next to the basket of dolls. She took out each one and laid them out with the named sides facing up. "Takehiro Saito. Minato Yoshida. Amai Nakahara. Daiichi Kobayashi. Kaede Maki. Yuki Kita." She read the names aloud. "What do the names have in common with the list of words?"
She felt a sense of pride when she saw the gears turning in Naru's head. "Nice work, Mai," he said.
"So the E.V.P. was trying to tell us the names of the spirits," Yasuhara explained for no one in particular. "So, we can assume the last one, perfume, is probably a Kaoru or a Kaori of some sort. But where's that doll?"
"That's what we need to find out," Naru said, writing down the names on a piece of paper. He handed it to the college boy. "I need you to find out who these people are. We know about Kaede, but we need a connection between the property and these people."
"Got it." He said, grabbing his keys from the wall of monitors and heading for the door.
"Remember, I want this to remain between the four of us for the time being," Naru ordered. "Call me when you find something."
"On it, Boss!" the boy saluted as he marched right out of there.
"What are we going to do with him?" Mai shook her head, but smiled nonetheless. It was nice to know that spending all this time with her boss, he was rubbing off on her. At least his deductive reasoning and ability to solve puzzles, like the words in the book. Finally she was being recognized and-
"Earth to Mai..." Naru's voice broke her from her reverie. "We need to find the other hitogata, any ideas?"
Well that was a change. Needless to say, she didn't mind it. "Well, where did you find the other ones? I know we found Kaede's in classroom 3B."
"We also found them in the library and the playground," Lin explained.
"Okay, and those were the places with the most severe activity, how many of them were found at each place?" Mai asked.
"Two."
"So, we have one more known hitogata somewhere around here," she crossed her arms in thought. "Where do we have more activity than most of the school but not as much as the other three locations?"
"Let's go," Naru ordered and walked her out the door.
The two walked through the hallway, Mai watched her boss quizzically out of the corner of her eye. Naru had brought his black notebook, he had it opened and was scanning a page. What was he trying to do? "Okay, I know we have some activity in a few of the classrooms, but how are we going to search them if class is still in session? We could wait until school lets out, but what if there's another attack? There hasn't been one since we started our investigation, unless you count the E.V.P. session on Monday-"
"If you would pause just long enough for me to respond, I will answer your questions," he remarked coldly. Mai held back a pout. "I'm not counting the session on Monday as an attack, but more of an occurrence. As for when we are going to investigate the classrooms, we will have to wait until class lets out, in the meantime we have other areas we can investigate. Lunch finished a while ago, we'll start in the cafeteria."
"Okay, that's all you had to say," Mai shrugged, pretending his interruption didn't affect her. She wasn't devastated that he basically told her to shut up, but it still hurt a little.
The two had arrived in the cafeteria, where staff could be seen cleaning up after the children. Naru closed his notebook and placed it in the inside pocket of his jacket. "We'll start out here, I'll check under the tables, you check under the chairs. Then we'll move to the kitchen if we don't find anything."
"On it, Boss," Mai copied Yasuhara's earlier response, but with much less enthusiasm.
The two searched everywhere. They couldn't find a single thing. Not that it was surprising. The only claim in that area was sightings of Kaede and hearing his voice. Those claims were before any of the activity escalated and after that those reports stayed around the area of room 3B, for the most part. So then next they should be heading for the nurse's office, right?
"Wait," Mai stopped him. He turned back to her with an intrigued look on his face. "The second floor hallway, that was another area where the was reported activity, correct?"
"Yes, what of it? We'll head there after the nurse's office-"
"I think we should head there now," she interrupted him. "The activity is by the teacher's lounge, where we also have reports of activity and I heard voices in there yesterday-"
"You had an experience, yesterday?" He raised a brow.
"Yes, and I didn't say anything, because that wasn't really an area that we knew had activity and I thought I imagined it." She took a breath and tightened her fists. "But, I think we should go there next. It's just a hunch, but I have a feeling..."
Naru let out a breath and closed his eyes. He changed his direction and headed for the stairs. "Alright, let's go."
They were up in the hallway, Mai testing the floor for any hollow spots to hide the little wooden doll. Naru examined the ceiling for any signs of tampering. The floor was solid, to Mai's disappointment, and it didn't look like Naru had found anything either. She let out a breath and a chill went up her spine.
As it always did when something was about to happen. "Ow!" a cry came from the nearby classroom.
Curious, Naru and Mai went to investigate. Apparently, so did Yuudai. "What happened?" the guest monk asked, as a teacher was consoling a sobbing seven year old.
"She was just on her way to the restroom, then the next thing we knew she was on the ground," the teacher explained. "Yumi, what happened?"
"I-I don't know! I-I tripped, but it felt like someone grabbed my leg!" Yumi said between sobs.
"Oh dear, you managed to scrape your knee," the teacher remarked noticing a few drops of blood.
"It doesn't look too bad," Mai commented, with a settling smile. "Why don't we get you to the nurse's office and get a band-aid on it?"
"Uh-huh," the girl nodded and sniffed.
"Here, I'll take her," Yuudai offered. "That way, you can get back to class, sensei. And you two were in the middle of something, am I right?"
"Yuudai, thank you! You are so kind!" the teacher raved. "That would be perfect!"
"If you insist," was all Naru said, as the monk lifted the young girl into his arms.
He wants to see if there are any more spirits around here. Mai told herself. If the attack happened over here that means that the hitogata must be around here somewhere. Meaning, I was right! Hell yeah!
While Mai had her little daydream, the classroom door had closed and Yuudai had taken Yumi to the nurse's office. Leaving her and her boss alone in the hallway. It was then the gears in her own mind began to spin. "No one else came..." she said aloud.
"The rest of the team is scattered around the school, Mai," Naru reasoned.
"Yeah, but Base is just down the hallway, surely Lin would have heard and there's a camera right over here," she argued, gesturing to the piece of equipment they had brought. "Even if we had the situation under control, Lin has been known to show up if he knows where the incident is."
Naru looked at her with thought in his eyes. He does have nice eyes, but they are too guarded, Mai found herself thinking, only to mentally smack herself for such thoughts.
"And no other teachers even poked their head out to see if everything was alright," she added.
"Do you have an explanation for that?" Naru challenged her. Sometimes she likes a challenge. She wasn't sure if now was the time for it.
"No, but it's strange isn't it? It's like only certain people can hear what happens." She crossed her arms as she walked down the hallway. "Like something muffled the incidents from the rest of the building. Like-"
She never finished. The scuffle of something dragging on the floor was heard before Mai found herself hurdling to the ground. "Get down!" she heard Naru exclaim as they both hit the tiled floor.
It was only after she nearly bit her tongue, that she heard the crash of the camera hitting the floor. The equipment shattered from the force. It was a heavy piece of gear, yes, but it was very sturdy. For it to have shattered and pieces scatter down the hallway, would have taken a lot of strength. But that's just what it did.
Well, this was as good a chance as any to test out her theory. Would anyone come to their aid? Or was something interfering with where sound waves were reaching? Mai...
"Mai," oh yeah, she sort of forgot that she was currently under the man who signs her paycheck. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she said, still in the same position. Had she been the same girl she was a year ago, she would have squealed with embarrassment. Now, she was just a little uncomfortable being practically squished. "Remember, my theory?"
"What theory?" he asked with a half annoyed tone.
"Well, more of an observation," she corrected herself. "No one's coming, and that wasn't a quiet tumble."
Still on top of her, Naru looked around the hallway. Not a single classroom door had opened. Not one member of their team had come to their aid. Yuudai hadn't rushed back either, he certainly would have heard it. He was just down the hall.
"Hey, Naru?" she finally decided to interrupt his thought process.
"Yes?"
"As much as I appreciate your chivalrous approach to save my life, you can get off of me, you know," she said with a smirk.
Without so much as a blink of surprise, the unfazed manager of SPR got off of her and offered a hand to help her up. Well, now they just had to figure out why no one was hearing the incidents. And clean up the mess before the children were released at the end of the day. Mai crossed her arms and examined the damage done to the camera as Naru pulled out his phone.
"Did you really just call Lin to come help clean up?" she asked him.
"What of it?"
"Base is just down the hall, I could just go grab him or I'd watch the area while you go get hi-"
"You seem to forget that you are now being targeted," Naru chided, Mai resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
"I'm being targeted? By what? And what makes you say that? The camera could have easily been flying towards you-"
"The cuts on your knuckles were no accident," he stated simply, catching the teen off guard. "I figured it out when Lin answered for you earlier. We'll discuss this more in Base."
"Well, if it's any consolation, I was planning on telling you the truth the moment we walked in, Lin just didn't want you going crazy and locking me in Base where you could keep a close eye on me," Mai turned and rolled her eyes. "Well, the teacher's lounge is right here, I'm making tea."
"Keep the door open, and you are a danger magnet, as we have just witnessed," Naru replied, as he examined the damage to the camera.
"To be fair, I wasn't as much of a magnet for it until I took up this job," she retorted, something catching her eye as she walked into the lounge. She stopped and knelt in the doorway. She placed her hand on the corner of the door that was attached to the hinge and felt down the length of the door. She smirked, but also let out a sad sigh. "Also, if you were to have kept me locked in Base under your watchful eye, you wouldn't have found the last hitogata."
"What are you going on about?" He looked up to see Mai shaking her head and holding her hand out. In it was the last hitogata, a name scribbled on one side. Kaori Akiyama.
"We need Yasuhara to get back here with information, fast," was all the high schooler said, as her boss took the little wooden doll.
***
December Day 4, 4:23 P.M.
School had finished for the day, the children had all gone home. Naru had Masako and Ayako on a never-ending walkthrough of the property. He also sent Monk and John on temperature recording for the third time that day. Yet no one bothered to question him. As though, everyone knew something was about to happen. The case was about to be solved. Naru just needed a few more pieces of the puzzle. And those pieces were with Yasuhara.
Mai had once again taken up sitting on top of the table, her employer deciding not to argue with her after hearing she had three near death incidents within a few hours. She looked at the pile of wooden dolls in the wicker basket and looked to the window. She could see seven silhouettes standing there. Two children, five adults. Three female, four male. She couldn't make out much more than that, but she heard the door open and she silently hoped it was Yasuhara.
"They are all in here," she heard Masako's voice as she walked in. "Why are all of them in here?"
"Miss Hara, did you find anything else?" Naru asked, half annoyed that the two girls had returned before Yasuhara.
"No," the medium shook her head.
"Go find Monk and John and do another walk around with them, ask them to show you where the most significant changes in temperature were and then come back here," he ordered.
The girls nodded and left without another word. Damn, things are getting intense, Mai commented to herself. Naru, just what do you suspect and why do you have everyone on edge?
Once again the door opened, only this time the person who did it was much shorter. "Samu-Nii?" the nine year old asked as she walked in.
"Hamako?" Mai returned in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"I really, REALLY wanted to see Samu-Nii, so Mom let me come to school today," Hamako answered, looking around the room. "Where's Samu-Nii?"
"He's doing me a favor, he might not be back for a little while," Naru answered her, kneeling down to her level. "Where's your mother?"
"She's at home, Samu-Nii said he would take me home."
"Hamako!" someone at the door exclaimed. "There you are!" It was one of the teachers. "Sorry, if she's bothering you, is Osamu, here?"
"He is running an errand for me, he should be back soon," Naru answered the teacher.
"Okay, I assume he's aware that Hamako is riding home with him."
"I would assume so, he hasn't made me aware of that, but that doesn't mean he isn't."
"Okay, well, I'm going to take her to the library and keep her out of your hair," the teacher decided, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "C'mon, Hamako, I think there are some new books that were delivered today. You can get the first look."
"Okay!"
Once she left, almost as if on cue, Naru's phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket and had Lin lock the door. "Yasuhara, you're on speaker, tell me you found something."
"Well, for a good portion of my research it was more of what I didn't find," the college student's voice came over the phone.
"Which would be?" You could hear Naru starting to become annoyed.
"There is absolutely no connection between those names and this school."
Naru pinched the bridge of his nose. "Was that all you found?"
"Naru! You have such little faith in me! I'm appauled!" Yasuhara exclaimed, mocking offense. "I did find a connection between two names and specific person involved, however, since I know my aunt will want Hamako home soon, I wasn't able to thoroughly research the other names."
"That's fine, if the connection you found is the same as my hunch, I won't need you to research anymore."
"I'd be surprised if this wasn't your hunch, but I think it might be better if I came back and we discussed this in person. I'm pretty sure this will finish up the case though."
"Alright, head back here, one of the teachers is watching Hamako in the library."
"Thanks, I'll be over in a few. Hopefully, the teacher will watch her until we finish this up."
Naru hung up, and Mai gave him a quizzical look. "What is this hunch you have?" she asked him.
"We'll discuss it when Yasuhara gets here."
"Who do you think is causing this haunting?" she challenged. He looked over at her.
"Like I said, we'll discuss this when Yasuhara gets back."
"Who made the hitogatas? Who is doing all of this?"
"Mai," Naru gave the tone of a mother warning a child of punishment if they continued to misbehave. "I said-"
"Naru, the library!" Lin exclaimed, breaking the two from their argument.
"Mai, stay here!" Naru ordered running out the door with his Chinese assistant.
"Fat chance!" Mai muttered as she raced after the boys.
She followed them to the library where several people were huddled. "Hamako! Are you okay!" the teacher exclaimed.
Mai was the last to run on the scene, but she was able to gather what had happened. One of the bookcases toppled over, nearly crushing her friend's cousin. And judging by the fact that the guest monk was holding the little girl, he had been the one to save her just in time.
"Y-yes," the little girl stuttered, trying to get out of the monk's arms. "Please put me down."
"Sure thing," he said, gently letting the little girl down and she ran immediately to her teacher and latched onto her skirt.
"What happened?" Naru demanded.
"We were in here looking at the different books, when the case just toppled over," the teacher explained, running her hand through the girl's hair. "Luckily, Yuudai was able to move her out of the way just in time."
"Miss Matsuzaki, do you have a charm on you?" Naru asked the priestess.
"Yes, actually," she replied, pulling one out from her pocket. He took it and knelt down in front of the girl.
"Hamako, I need you to hold on to this," he said, handing it to the girl. "It's a special charm, part of a game actually."
"A game?" she wondered aloud, Naru nodded.
"Yes, a game. The point of the game is to never let it out of your sight. If you can do that, you win," Naru explained, amazing the team with his patience with the child.
"I win?"
"Samu-Nii, is in on the game as well, he will let you know when the game is over and you can give it back to him." He gave the girl a playful smile, a smile Mai had only seen from the Naru in her dreams. "If you win, your cousin will give you a treat."
"Really!"
"Really." He stood up and turned to the teacher. "Take her to the main office, or anywhere that's on the first floor."
The teacher nodded, somewhat confused, but lead the calmed girl out of there. While Naru had been calming down the girl, much to the amazement of his team, Lin had been investigating the case that fell. "It had to have been pushed, there's no reason for it to have fallen over like that."
Now Hamako is being targeted? But we found all of the hitogatas, Mai wondered to herself. They are all locked in Base that is covered in charms, there shouldn't be anymore attacks.
But why are these hitogatas causing such mayhem in the first place? They all have the names of deceased people, Mai's gears began to turn in her head. Or at least I can assume they are, seeing as there are no students or faculty or anyone with those names affiliated with the building. Only Kaede, but he is dead. Are the spirits attached to the dolls? Is that why they appear transparent? But someone had to make them. But who?
She was so lost in thought she didn't hear the shuffling behind her. Or notice her friend's calls of attention. When she did, she turned around and watched as books tumbled off the shelves as the bookcase rattled and shook. She was frozen to the floor as she watched it lean toward her.
"Mai!"