Chapter Seven: Retaliation, Case Closed

Naru

He wasn't in the best of mood ever since he came to that school, but after the incident in the pool, which caused nothing more than a huge panic among both students and teachers alike, his patience was running quite thin, as the school director was beginning to realize. All the members of his team had been called to the director's office, in which the older man had demanded an explanation about the horrors many students experienced in the swimming class and why he had allowed it to happen, when he had been told to avoid rumors at all costs.

Back then, he had been one step closer to lose control of his powers, but tried his best to hold them. However, despite his better efforts, one of the glass windows had splintered under his pressure, but luckily it didn't shatter so no one was harmed in his small slip of control. Nevertheless, the message got to the point. Before, he had stated that the students' lives were in great danger and instead of being worry about rumors, they should prioritize the safety of everyone inside the school and after his unintentional display of psychic power for which he was famous, the director had finally realize he was playing with a very dangerous kind of fire he could not hope to control, so he let the matter go, finally allowing him to settle matter his way as soon as possible.

Because of the incident, classes had been suspended for the rest of the day and depending if they could resolve the case over the night or not, classes were probably going to be suspended for tomorrow as well. The staff had make the announcement that a group of paranormal researchers were taking interviews in the infirmary and that everyone who had been attacked before or experience something unusual were free to talk about their experiences, while going in groups. No student was allowed to wander the school on their own, no matter the reason.

The infirmary have become their main base of operation and although they didn't have the equipment needed to record the happenings in the school, they had more than enough to protect their base and the students coming in waves to share their stories. They had tried to discretely dig more information about Akane Harumi or any other kind of incident that had happen after the cancelation of the play. However, it was proving to be more difficult than expected, as nothing out of ordinary seemed to had occurred after the pranks and nothing significant the next year.

Apparently, the attacks had started when in her third year, just a few months ago. The first victim had been indeed her ex-boyfriend, but they had break up so long ago that it leaved more questions than answers. If they had not being together for two years and the guy had dated other girls during that time, why get jealous now of all times? Was it because he had done something differently, or perhaps there was an external fact they know nothing off that changed her mind this time. It was still unknown if the girl was simply using her own powers or she was commanding something else.

He had ask Miss Hara if she could sense spirits inside the school whatever weak or strong, but she could only sense an ominous presence, which could end up belonging just to the girl and not to any spirit. Mai however had insisted that there was something else going on and that the pool was the key. She had wanted to go back to the pool to have a better 'reading' but he had refused to let her go back, even if the rest of the team were to go with her. God knew she was a dander magnet and she had been attacked twice already and the last thing he wanted was repeating another episode like the one their shared just a few hours ago.

He had been truly afraid to lose her and he was in no hurry to experience such a nightmare a second time, but unluckily for him, Ryan Curtis had come to offer some help to solve the case, just when Mai was suggesting to astral project in the pool. Last night she had manage to do so and she had been pulled by something she believed it wasn't Akane and before he could said anything to discard the idea, Ryan had offered to try and do so as well. He had found Mai before, so he was quite confident that he could do it again. Thus, now he found himself carefully watching her sleep in one of the infirmary beds, next to the one Ryan was occupying.

Lin was going to monitor Ryan's sleep, ready to wake him up if he showed signs of being in danger. Mai was his charge, because he will not leave her life in someone else hands when he could save her from any kind of harm, himself. The priestess and the Monk, as well as John were in charge of protecting the base in case the girl showed up or something else tried to break through their barrier. Hara was there to sense any kind of spirit that could be enraged in the moment Mai or Ryan could reach it and so they waited.

Of course, the night had already fallen when they attempted the little experiment, because by then, there were less risk to the rest of the students living in the dorms and the school staff. Since the beginning, the school had a curfew that no student, unless under special circumstances, were allowed to wander the school at night, which make it the perfect time for them to act. The school for the privileged had two large and modern infirmaries, one was located near the dormitories and the other, (the one they were using) at the end of the main building in the first floor, not too far away from the sport complex. Thus, the response whatever from Akane or a spirit, will be quick.

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea. I mean we know this girl is powerful, but we don't know to which extent and Mai barely knows how to defend herself with the nine cuts…" Ayako protested.

"Ayako, had you forgotten Naru is too and we don't have much choices, the pool area is definitely too dangerous to tried something in there and is we are in need to perform an exorcisms, then it's even worse." The monk intruded.

"But she…"

"Mai Taniyama is way stronger than any of you give her credit. Be quiet, I need concentration…" Naru interjected, while closing his eyes, taking one of Mai's hand in his own.

"Naru! You already used some PK earlier, don't push yourself further." Lin warned him.

"I'm fine. I had been denied of a more scientific way to conduct this investigation, so not even my father can blame me for use whatever means necessary to finish the job." Naru said with irritation.

"You are wrong, he would never want you to risk your life, nor hers." Lin shouted back, making the atmosphere a bit tense between the two. The rest of the group simply watched in silence as they fight.

"Mai's life is not in danger and nor is mine. I will make sure to wake her before anything can happen and a bit of psychometry is not going to kill me. Now, I need silence." He said and not even Lin dared to say anything else. His charge was in a very bad mood, not to mention a bit less rational and sensitive than he should. Apparently, what happen to them under the water had affect him more than he thought, specially seen Mai almost drawn, so he didn't want to put the girl in another similar danger and hell will freeze over before he could contradict that.

Finally, Naru begin to concentrate in the girl, he got some flashes of her life while doing so and then, it hit him. There was someone else linked to Mai's life and he knew that presence better than anyone else. The fact shock him at first, as he wasn't expecting for Mai to be in contact with his other half, but the possibility of danger to her spirit make him pass that fact.

"Gene, why?" He inwardly whisper to himself nevertheless and surprisingly, he felt his brother presence for the first time in almost a year.

"Noll, this is not how I wanted for you to find out that I'm still around." Gene reply with some sadness, through their now weak mental link.

"Why?" Naru repeated.

"I had some unfinished business to take care of. Noll, don't go ballistic on Mai for not telling you about something she doesn't know. This girl is more linked to you than you will ever imagine and it was the reason I reach her first, when I was searching for you. She doesn't know who I am, she believes that I'm a dream version of you, guiding her in her dreams to find clues about the cases."

"I see. It's beginning to make sense now. The questioning… was it you the one telling her the answers?" Naru asked.

"Yes, that was quite fun… Noll listen, Mai's instincts are correct. There is something quite evil inside the diving pool and it's probably what are you looking for. The Harumi girl, I believe is just being used, the real culprit of the attacks is the one who hides under the water, be careful."

"Were are you Gene? I have been looking for you for almost a year. What were you thinking? Why didn't you tried to contact me before or send me the message with Mai if everything else failed?"

"Don't get mad, Noll. I have my reasons. You will find me soon, anyways…"

"Hum… am I seen double or I'm going crazy? Why are two Naru's all of the sudden?" A feminine familiar voice both of them knew well said behind them and Naru turned wide eyed to look at Mai's chocolate eyes. He was no longer having a private conversation with his brother inside his mind.

"Gene is this…?" Naru begin, noticing the change of scenery. He was no longer inside the infirmary, but somewhere else inside the school grounds. Actually the three of them stood in front of the sport complex door, meaning about to enter the pools area.

"Yeah, she did it. Because of your connection, she pull you inside the astral plane too." Gene said sighing.

"Who's Gene or Noll for that matter? Naru, just what's going on here?" Mai asked with confusion.

"My thoughts exactly." Naru whisper pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'm sorry Mai, I apologize for not introducing myself sooner, but I'm not who you think I am, never was, actually. I'm Eugene Davis and I was his twin when I was alive…" Mai tilted her head at one side in even more confusion.

"What? But… but he is Shibuya and…"

"This handsome devil is none other than Oliver Davis in the flesh Mai." Gene interrupt her.

"Gene!" Naru said a bit louder.

"Said what?!" Mai screeched.

"Yeah, he is Oliver Davis all right, the famous and internationally recognized mighty psychic. I had known him since a kid so I can tell…" Another voice added.

"Ryan, it was about time you joined us, welcome…" Gene said smiling.

"Are you sure of that?" He asked while glancing at Noll, who didn't bother to hide his annoyance.

"Don't mind Noll, he is an idiot scientist, as you already know…" Ryan laughed despite himself.

"I see you haven't change at all, if you are still calling him that…"

"Hum, guys… I'm lost in here…" Maid said in frustration.

"Never mind them Mai, just let this be over with. I will appreciate if both of you fools, concentrate in the task at hand. At any sign of real danger, we all pull out. Can you do that Gene?" Naru asked glancing at his twin, who nodded.

"Yeah. I will return both of your spirits back to your bodies. No worries…"

"Then, let's go." Naru said, while taking Mai's hand. It will be easier for Gene to pull them back if they were still connected and he kind of need to make sure she will not wonder around, putting herself at more risk. Her flushing face was only an added bonus.

They enter the pool area with precaution and just like the last time, the pool was cover with a mist, a gray one that looked ominous, making Mai shiver with both cold and fear. Naru glanced her way and give her a tighter grip of her hand.

"I'm scare Naru… she is really hurt and sad and she wants for others to feel her pain…" Mai whispered as she got closer to him, trying to feel safer.

"Can you tell me who she is?" He asked softly.

"Nanami… Nanami Yuriko…" Mai whisper, the name just unconsciously slipping form her tongue. Then the water burst to life in a huge column that descended in their way. Naru held Mai to him, expecting the force of the wave to sweep them away, but as their psychical bodies were somewhere else, the water pass through them, not really hitting them.

"How dare you?! How dare you to say my name?! Be gone, all of you!" The last thing Noll felt was hitting the floor, as Gene had force them back to their bodies rather hastily, making him fall backwards from his chair. Mai and Ryan gasped, suddenly sitting on their beds. Then the lights went off. She was coming…

"Naru!" Mai yelled, scared and he stood up to be by her side, while the rest of the team prepared for a close encounter.

"What happen?" Lin asked his charge, who was now helping Mai out of her bed. The girl was shaking so violently the she could barely stay on her feet, so Naru allowed her to cling to him for dear life. He found he didn't mind at all.

"The spirit is mad, prepare yourselves." Naru answer before the oddest thing happen. All of the sudden, the floor begin to get wet, then to flood in a matter of seconds.

"What the hell?" The monk asked while looking down with the little light coming from the moon in the cloudless night and seen the water still increasing.

"Where is it coming from?" John asked and they looked for the source of it. In the bathroom, the sink faucet was open and the water was falling from it like a river, yet they could not close it.

"Hey! It's coming from under the door too!" Ayako yelled and right then, the door was yanked out of its hinges toward the hallway and en extreme cold hit them. Like before, a dark mist begin to form outside of the now door-less room. Mai buried her head in Naru's chest and he hugged her to give her some reassurance.

"Don't worry Mai, we are safe behind the wards." He whisper to her.

"Don't be so sure!" The spirit screeched, showing herself at the door. The water that now reached their heels turned dark red, the same as earlier in the day and it began to create bubbles that released a fetid stink all over the room. Masako coughed, covering her nose and mouth with her uniform jacket and the others followed her example.

"Naru, soon this place will become unbreathable for us…" Ayako said as she was beginning to feel sick, not to mention that Masako was almost to the point of fainting. John had guide her toward a bed, sitting by her side. The mass of dark energy, which sometimes took the form of a petit girl, sneered, showing a row of yellow teeth's that could be clearly seen.

"Come on out… I'm waiting…" She laughed and Lin waste no time to act. He sent his shikis to intercept her, but wind circles hit them instead, sending them back. Monk and John began their prayers, which apparently had some effect on her, yet not enough to truly hurt her.

"Enough of games…" Naru said, gently pushing Mai away from him and begin to gather energy.

"Noll!" Lin warned him, yet his charge moved forward toward the door, minding not the fetid smell, nor the bloody water under his shoes. The girl send him some more wind circles, which he safely deflected toward the walls, making her angrier.

"I don't know your story, but you need to stop hurting others right about now…" Naru told her, now almost face to face with her.

"Why should I stop? They can hurt me but I can't hurt them back? That's not exactly fair." The girl hissed.

"No one said that life was fair. My twin brother was killed here somewhere and his body was thrown inside a lake to never be found, yet his murderer is running free, living like she had done nothing wrong. Still, I'm not hurting people because I'm mad, we all have experienced pain justified or not, you have not right to do the same thing you hate to keep repeating the circle." Naru said, taking most of his team be surprise, including Mai.

"I want to live again!" The spirit yelled throwing herself against the barrier that pushed her back with a bluish flash of light. "I want that girl!" She kept yelling looking at Mai's way.

"The dead can't be brought back to life, nor resurrect. Once your time is over there is no coming back." He calmly added.

"I can…. I have been possessing girls with spiritual powers and living through them…"

"What happen to Akane Harumi?" Naru pressed a bit worry for the girl's life.

"She fainted after the last attack. She is no good to me now. I. Want. That. Girl. NOW!" Nanami shouted, her yell making echoes everywhere, making Mai's skin have goosebumps all over her.

"No can do. She is not going to be your next victim." He focus his chi on the palm of his hand again.

"Because you lover her? Oh, so sweet, or so most will thought. I bet you are using her, just like those of your kind. Handsome faces, yet rotten hearts. I was fooled once and pay the highest price, my life! Now I want it back!"

"You are right about one and wrong about two things. One, I do love her…" Mai gasped in disbelief a yard behind him. He could imagine her shock, yet he wanted to come clean of all of the things he had kept hidden. "Second, although I did use her when we first meet, I have always care for her, which is why I have willingly put myself in danger for her sake and third, I have no rotten heart, you have." His hand was filled with a white fire that make the spirit pull back in fear.

"Wait… what is that? What kind of fire is that? I have never seen it. Stay away!"

"Lin!" His shikis formed a circle surrounding the now frightened spirit.

"Stay away! Stay away!" The girl, now more a human than a mass of darkness yelled.

"Hear me well, right now you have two options. One, you move on by your own choice or I make you disappear for good. I have you know, I have destroyed things far more powerful than you with this fire and it will sent you right to hell, as you have become something else in the time you have spent hurting others."

"I… I can't go back…" The girl said, shivering, never taking her eyes away from the fire she was so afraid off. Since a child, she had always been afraid of it after accidently burning her hand and the mere sight of it terrify her, even after death. That what why she had find safety in water and became a swimmer. Masako saw her hesitation, as her chance to intervene to save her soul. She really wanted that case close for good. She had already being defeated.

"That's not true, you can still move on." Masako pleaded. "If you truly wish it, you can always find the right way."

"H… how?" The girl in an old uniform asked.

"Let go of your anger, let go of your grudge and you will be free." Naru answer for her.

"No! They need to pay! All those bastards that use girls to their needs and then toss them aside like they are nothing, needs their punishments!"

"I agree that those who use peoples feelings to toy with, should be punish, but that's not for us to decide. Life itself has many turns and in one of them you can be caught paying your price. I can tell, you have been around for a while, so all those who hurt you are long gone. Why are you still here punishing yourself, keeping alive your hatred when you should be resting in peace? Are you not tired of suffering?" Naru asked, diminishing the intensity of his flames. It was beginning to tire him.

"Hum… maybe?" She wasn't too sure.

"Then please, go on and move on. I'm sure someone will slap all those idiots for you…" Mai added with a warm smile, coming closer to Naru. He gave her a glance and when he notice her hand was about to reach the one he had his fire, he extinguish it instantly, taking hers.

"See? He may be a jerk most of the time, but he doesn't hurt me and to be honest, I would not want him any other way. Please have your peace, you have already changed so much in such a short amount of time… just look at yourself…" And so she did and was surprised to see her body whole again.

"Have your deserve rest now, you suffering will end once you cross to the other side." Masako added.

"Please Nanami, you deserve better…" Mai added, coming a little closer. Naru was about to pull her back, but he let her go. He could feel, the girl was no longer a threat.

"How did you know my name…?" Nanami asked.

"Hum… well…" Mai tried to find the right answer because she honestly didn't know how she came to knew it.

"She is medium, a strange one, but a good one nevertheless." Naru answer for her.

"Do you truly love her?" The girl asked.

"Yes. I don't play those kind of games. I agree to accept this case precisely because I was not going to pretend something I didn't feel." Mai face heated instantly, making Nanami smile for a second.

"You both look cute, that's why I lost it. She looked so happy and I kind of see myself in her before some idiot broke my heart in so many pieces that I lost the will to live." She committed suicide? Mai internally asked herself.

"Well, I assure you I will not lose mine, even for him." Mai said.

"Good… Oh… I can see a light now…" Nanami said looking at something near her.

"Then go ahead and find your rest." Masako urge her.

"May God grant you peace." John prayed, also coming closer.

"Go on Nanami… you already had been granted a second chance." Mai smiled.

"Right… see you then… sorry for what I did earlier…" She slightly bowed.

"It's okay. None of us was truly harmed and I'm sure that Akane will get better too."

"I hope so, I was selfishly using her… please tell her I'm sorry. She could see spirits, so we talk for a while, when she was having her practice at the pool. She had experience something similar to what destroyed me, so I kind of manipulated her to let me possess her for time to time and I hurt others with her abilities. I hope she doesn't become something like me."

"I have the feeling she will not, rest assure, my instincts are always right. I have been compare to animals, because of that…" Mai glanced at Naru who ignore her, making the cleansed spirit smile.

"See you… take care, all of you…" And with that, she was gone for good.

"Well, that was quick." Monk said sighing.

"Yeah… who would have thought that Naru was such a good liar." Maid said turning around, yet a hand turn her back.

"Who are you calling a liar?" He asked with annoyance.

"Well, it's not like you truly love me, right? You didn't even tell us your real name, oh almighty Oliver Davis, the famous psychic extraordinary." Mai said glaring back, he sighed.

"I had a good reason to keep my identity hidden." Was his excuse.

"Wait, no way… are you truly him?" The monk paled. He had practically become a fan of his, yet he never realize he had the real thing right in front of him for almost a whole year! Oh, man… this is embarrassing… Ayako laughed seen his face and soon they all did, except Naru, who was watching Mai go back to room to gather her things. He follow her.

"Mai…" He stooped behind her.

"Yeah, I know it was part of the plan and it helped Nanami to move on, so I'm not mad."

"Mai…" He repeated.

"Yeah, Oliver Davis?" She asked turning to face him and was surprised when he took her in his arms and bowed his head to be inches closer to her face.

"I didn't lie about me loving you and this is my proof." He kiss her and oh, how he kiss her. He didn't care that others were watching them, he didn't care that Lin or even Ryan were going to tell his parents about what he was doing, all he cared was giving Mai the proof of his feelings, in giving her his heart, because he had no doubt it was hers. He kiss with everything he had and she had understood. When they separate for air, Mai was blushing like mad.

"Hum, Naru… can you… convince me some more?" She asked, making him slightly smile for the first time in a while.

"Sure, but afterwards, I need some tea…" She laughed, right before he kiss her senseless.

AN: Yey, another story finish! I said it was kind of short, because this was made for fun, to let my mind rest from all the stress of life and hard situations. I will add an epilogue later, but I consider this work done. I thank all those who had follow this story all the way to the end. I hope it doesn't disappoint much people, I still have a lot of stories to finish, so please, be kind. It had been my pleasure, dear readers, until next time, take care. Thank you all!