Chapter 6 – Still Here

Song – Still Here: Digital Daggers

AN: See bottom of chapter for more notes; see profile for more in depth personal stuff either about the chapter or about my life in general. Thanks for reading and enjoy!

-o-

End of Day 1: 19:30

The Team

Honestly everyone thought the forensic scientists would never leave. Takigawa, Masako, and John were allowed to stay in the office so long as it was with the purpose of helping gather evidence related to the case and to help Yasu. He was thankfully able to get into Lin's computer within 45 minutes of him sitting down to work.

Honestly it was hard for them to watch the footage of what had happened. Takigawa especially found it hard not to pick up something and throw it out of rage when he saw Mai getting sexually assaulted. They were truly outnumbered five to three. Instantly the footage started to become corrupted and hazy when Lin raised his fingers to his mouth and looked to do what looked like a whistle to summon his shiki's. Masako grinned when she saw this as it proved her theory that it was his shiki that she sensed.

After that it was choppy and cut in and out in a thick haze. They were able to see one moment Naru was protecting Mai and the next he was down and being hauled out by two men. Lin was shot and it went very fuzzy. Mai was in the main room, and then after the picture came back she was in the kitchen with a man following her. It faded out and showed the man on the ground the next moment and a pot from the stove missing. Mai had thrown the contents of it into the man's face.

"So this Mai Taniyama certainly can defend herself," Detective Yojiro commented.

"She's learned from us self defense techniques," Takigawa explained.

Another man cam to intercept her fleeing and beat her down. She fell unconscious and was dragged away. Masko put her hand to her sleeve and looked away. "My God," John whispered bowing his head and hand signing a Catholic cross across his body. "Mai...Naru...Lin..." Yasu could only whisper. Takigawa couldn't take any more of it and walked out of the room. He was fuming with rage at this point. He knew that he had to keep calm and think clearly, but watching someone who was basically like a little sister to him get assaulted, beaten, and kidnapped by whoever the hell they were was just too much.

'Come on, think! What would Lin and Naru do? They'd be calm first of all. Worried, but calm,' he thought.

He took a few deep meditative breaths and cleared his mind. He wouldn't be a monk exorcist if he couldn't have the ability to shut the world out and focus his mind on one thing. He was leading now, he needed to be strong willed and cool headed.

The rest of the day was filled with questions from the detective on the footage, rummaging through the folder and paperwork for any clues, and dealing with the press on what they can and can't say about what happened. Mai's picture was released from a group photo they had taken a few months back. Naru's identity was limited to Kazuya Shibuya with no picture available, but should be with Mai.

Ayako also gave a couple updates from the hospital. She said when she got there Lin was still in surgery. A few hours later Lin was out of surgery and should make a full recovery. They had to perform a blood transfusion due to blood loss, but otherwise he should be fine. She was sent a couple of screenshots from the footage and she didn't know any of the men that were shown. She said that she would stay in the room Lin was in until the forensic analysts were gone and she could come back to the office.

As they poured over the recent records of appointments, Takigawa found it surprising that in the past month, Naru had been trying to find a client. He had interviewed somewhere between 5-7 clients in a month, pouring over case files but denying all of them. It was strange even for Naru to have so many rejections. He wondered what could have been going through his head.

Now they were outside of the office door waiting on Ayako to come back from the hospital so they could sneak back into the office and summon Lin's shiki out and ask it for information. After they found all of the evidence they could find, they were told to not contaminate the crime scene any longer and were told to leave. They "left" the office but never left the vicinity. It was now nearly 20:00 when they were sure everything was clear for them to return.

The elevator dinged and Ayako stepped out and walked towards them, "I'm here, you guys ready?" she asked.

"Yeah," Takigawa replied. "Let's do this."

Walking back into the office, stepping past the police tape, the silence was almost deafening. The air was still and heavy. The usual friendly, familiar, and professional setting was off-put by the smell of dried blood and burnt soup. Everything from the crime scene remained right where it was broken, thrown about, and scattered. It looked nothing like it was before.

Trying his best to ignore this uncomfortable silence, Takigawa spoke up, "Masako, can you sense Lin's shiki here?"

She jumped slightly. She looked around a little, put her hand up to her mouth and said, "Yes, it's still here."

"Good let's get to work."

-o-

Day1: 19:48

Naru

-o-

Naru considered waking Mai up once he started hearing shouting coming from outside the door, but he knew better. Waking someone up while they are astral projecting could run the risk of their soul not returning to their body properly or at all. He did what he thought would be most helpful, keep an eye on her movements, and listen at the door for clues as to what they were doing out there.

A few sounds were very evident to discern: heavy furniture being moved, scuffling of feet, and a man barking orders in an authoritative voice. What the man was saying he couldn't quite make out. It sounded as though that was what he was doing.

'Are we being moved somewhere?' he thought, 'What's going on out there?'

"Mmhmm...Naru?" Mai's voice whispered from behind him.

"Mai," he said coming over to her side, "it's about time you woke up. Something's happening out there,"

"I know. I saw them. They are getting ready to move us," she replied groggily.

"Move us? Move us where?"

"I'm not sure, but Naru there is something important I need to tell you. It's about your brother Gene," she said quickly.

Naru's body went cold and rigid. All of the blood drained from his face and his self control was being held together by a single thread. 'What in the hell is happening to us?' he thought. "How do you know his name?" he finally asked.

"He told me his name," she said. The confusion on his face growing more and more confused and slightly angry, "Naru, he's my spirit guide!" she blurted out, "He's been guiding me in the astral plane,"

Naru for once didn't have a retort. He was fuming with rage for bringing him up. He was angry, upset, sad, and...jealous? No. That couldn't be it. What in the hell was happening? He tried to speak and ask her what she meant by this all that came out was a breathless, "What? Why?"

"It's a long story, but listen Naru. He said that you need to use me. We don't have time to argue on this. I know you're afraid to, but if you don't I'm dead regardless. He said he'll teach me alongside you. Please Naru!" she pleaded.

"No...no he's...how do I know you aren't just..."

"It's not a mistake Naru, it is him. Remember when you two were kids practicing PK for the first time? He dragged your spirit back into your body and he tackled you to the ground? Do you remember what he said?" when he didn't answer she continued, "He wanted to keep you grounded. Naru he is the only other person who could have told me that story other than you. Do you believe me now?" she asked.

He opened his mouth but quickly shut it again as if the words were going to fly out before he had time to think. 'There is no way, no way that this is happening right now!' he thought.

He could feel his heart pound harder and harder in his chest, his head starting to feel light, and his breathing going ragged. He felt betrayed by the two people who were the closest to him. A deep cold feeling erupted in his body and settled into the pit of his stomach. He was going to pass out.

'Am I having a panic attack?' he thought, 'No, no, no, this isn't happening. I haven't had one since...'

Naru didn't have an opportunity to answer that question and train of thought. At that moment the loud sound of the heavy metal door being unlocked from the outside caused both of them to jump. They looked to the door and didn't have time to react when a number of men came barreling into the room. Three men were on top of him before he could reach for Mai. Two grabbed his wrists and a third wrapped heavy cloth around his mouth. He tried fighting them off but was completely overwhelmed by their force.

He looked towards Mai and saw another few men doing the same. She was flailing and screaming. She was trying to use her body to go limp, but she was so lightweight, the men holding her were able to pick her up easily. She was screaming so loudly now, the sound vibrated off the walls. One of them tried to cover her moth with his hand; she then took into her mouth and bit down hard.

"Graaagh!" the man howled in pain jerking his hand back.

Naru's head was feeling lighter and lighter as adrenaline filled him. "Mai!" he tried calling out, but it was muffled heavily. A burlap bag was then thrown over his head and he was dragged away from the room and away from Mai. Her screams for them to stop and the screaming of his nickname growing distant as he was blindly dragged away through the building.

He felt a cool breeze as he was led outside. A car door opened and he was thrown in to the side. His knees bent backwards and he felt himself falling forward onto his face. His face hit the floor and he felt his nose flare with pain. Blood seeped down into the sack. He was in a van he deduced as there were no seats that he landed on. The door slammed shut and the engine turned over.

"Go!" a gruff voice sounded off, and off they went without hesitation.

The last thing he had on his mind when his mind started to black out was the fact that he was away from Mai, and he didn't know what they would do to her. He felt tears of anguish and pain mix in with the blood flowing down his face. Instinctively he reached down into his pocket and he felt a damp cloth.

'What is this?' he asked himself, 'Wait...this is...Mai!'

It was the cloth he used to clean Mai's face. There was still her blood and tears on it. It didn't belong to her, but it had remnants of her on it. It just might work. He gripped it tight in his hand and closed his eyes. He focused his thoughts solely on Mai, and he allowed darkness to overtake him.

-o-

Opening his eyes, he saw that he was back in the room that he had left Mai in. So she was still in the room where he had left her? His clairvoyant powers allowed him to see things in flashes. The further he was away from the person he was trying to see, the harder it was to see. It was blurry but he could see Mai among five men. She was struggling that was easy enough to see. They were trying to subdue her but she was fighting. Naru honestly had no idea she had that much strength in her. It became blurry and hard to see. He focused harder on Mai and the cloth that held a part of her. The vision focused in again. A man with a cloth came up to her and tried to hold it to her face, but a swift kick to the ribs fixed that. He dropped what he was holding.

The vision started blurring again, and when it came into focus again Mai was on the ground, her hair being pulled up And two men on top of her holding her down. Naru felt his blood begin to boil. He was seething with rage at this point. He hardly put up a fight, and here Mai was fighting with every amount of energy she could muster? He was going to be sick. All he could do was watch helplessly. He walked up to her and reached out his hand. It did nothing to help her.

It blurred again. When it focused, Mai was unconscious with tear tracks wet on her face. She was being picked up roughly and thrown onto a tall man's shoulder. A bag was placed over her head, pulled tight, and she was moved out of the room. The vision began to fade entirely.

-o-

Naru opened his eyes with a jolt of panic. He still couldn't see anything and he could still feel the floor of the van beneath him. They were still on their way to the next location. He wondered if anyone would be able to find them at this rate, but he quickly pushed that thought from his head.

'Is it helpful to think like that? Focus on the solution, not the problem,' he thought, 'What's the best course of action here?'

The answer was obvious: use Mai to help channel his PK, but he refused to acknowledge that decision. No, there had to be another option. But then again...she knew about keeping his spirit in his body, she knew about the story when he and his brother were kids.

'Is this what Gene would want?' he thought. 'Would he forgive him if she got hurt or killed? Could I forgive myself? No. But, I don't have any other options.'

He felt more tears start to roll down his face. Tears he swears never fell in the first place. He smiled and made a decision: he would channel his PK through Mai, for both of their lives.

-o-

AN: I. Am. So. Sorry. I'm so sorry it has taken this long to update! So much life hit in this last month. Drill weekend in 3 week intervals, car issues only to be fixed by buying a new damn car, and much more personal issues that involved legal paperwork to make your head spin.

Shout out to all of the awesome reviewers!

Star0Dragon0Slayer

CaitHawke4Ever

fabian1nina1

blue hummming bird

And all of the guest reviewers too!

See you all soon