SPR: Is This Normal - CH 20

14AmyChan: Okay, this took a while, sorry!

Mai: it's all right, you had finals.

Naru: It gives you no excuse to slack off.

Mai: Naru, you're mean!

Naru: *pinches bridge of nose*

14AmyChan: okay, I don't own Ghost Hunt, enjoy peeps~! *^_^*

"Ugh!" Mai's frustrated grunt was heard by all yet responded to by none as she finally set the last monitor down in its proper position. Base had been relatively easy to set up in a room close to the front door of the house. Well, as easy as it could be without Bou-san helping in hauling the heavy equipment around. Mai looked around the newly set up base and mentally made a list of things that needed to be done in her head. The next thing to do would be to set up cameras, microphones, and then to take temperatures.

"Mai, set up the cameras. Hara-san, go with her and see if you can sense anything. Lin," Naru's order hung in the air for both Mai and Masako, but the stoic adult seemed to understand what was left unsaid and immediately got to work. Feeling that they should get their assignment done as well, Mai gathered up three cameras in her arms, being careful with each one.

Quite a feat for someone so small and with such a track record of clumsiness. It was then that Mai noticed Masako not wanting to assist with the cameras.

After some slight squabbling over the issue of camera holding, the girls left the base with five cameras, each with their own attached microphone. Mai was holding the three of the said pairs while Masako carried the other two. The brunette—after a curious glance towards her friend—wondered how she could even carry the bluky cameras and look graceful. It just was not fair!

It was not fair. She was scared. It was not fair. She did not want to die. It was not fair. There was so much she wanted to do with her life. It was not—

"Mai, you must not let the emotions of others control you," Masako's harsh tone brought Mai back to earth. She had not even realized how tightly she had begun to clutch at the cameras in her arms. Nor had she noticed the fact that she had stopped along the hallway, allowing Masako quite a lead on her. Attempting to clear her mind, Mai doubled her pace in an effort to catch up to the medium and double the pace. Naru would not like it if they dawdled on their assignment.

Stupid, self-serving narcissist… but she could not help but love him anyways. Stupid love…

They soon reached the first position to place their cameras, yet before Mai could place one of her heavy burdens down, Masako had relieved herself of the first camera-microphone set, placing it just so. Lin instructed the medium through the walkie-talkie they took with them on how to adjust the screen to get everything they needed on-screen. It was frustrating to have Masako get off so easy because she was so freaking famous.

Frustration. So much pent-up energy, needing to be released. This house was frustrating, people were frustrating, the sea was—

"Mai, control yourself," Masako admonished, seemingly reading the brunette's mind. It was quickly becoming tiring, especially after she realized Masako had already adjusted the camera and was ready to move on. Great, now Naru probably thought she was lazing about, which she most certainly was not!

"How is it that you know when my mind starts wandering?" Mai asked aloud, picking up her three cameras yet again and moving on with her friend down the hall. The next place to position a camera was at the entrance of a room towards the back of the house.

"It's the emotions of those from the spirits around us. There are many from the sea, but if you have the ability to concentrate, you might be able to sense the spirit that resides within these walls," Masako explained, her snub veiled thinly. Mai could practically feel an angry tick over her head.

Anger. It swirled everywhere. Anger. At having ones life ripped apart far too early. Anger. At being betrayed by someone you held dear, and that costing your life. Anger. At the injustice—

The sudden clacking of Masako's geta against the wooden floor roused Mai from her sudden flash of incomprehensible fury. It was completely unexplainable, yet that was of no consequence. Masako had just insulted her ability to concentrate!

"I can so concentrate!" she hissed in response to the medium's confident smirk. Hidden politely behind her kimono sleeve, of course.

Wait, when were the medium's hands empty?

Mai turned around to see that Masako's other camera and microphone duo had been set up properly in the right position in front of the appropriate room. When had that happened?

"You wear your heart on your sleeve, Mai. Though it is an admirable trait in some of the more common circles, spirits can take advantage of the fact that your emotions cloud your judgment, whether they intend to or not," Masako stated with authority. Mai's face scrunched in confusion, complete with the slight residue of frustration. Was Masako attempting to be insulting or trying to help?

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mai questioned. For a moment, Masako did not answer, and Mai—for her part—was determined not to be distracted so she could turn her full wrath on the more experienced medium should she choose to be insulting again.

"It means that your emotions are easily read, and thus easily manipulated by anyone wishing to do harm to you, living or dead. Strong emotions are difficult to deflect or ignore for a medium with normal self-restraint. Therefore, it is obvious that you would have difficulty separating your true emotions from the spirits around you."

"Are you saying that I have no self-restraint?" Mai griped, certain that Masako was insulting her again. This time, she was aware enough to set up one of the cameras herself. After a brief interlude where Lin instructed Mai on the positioning of the camera and corresponding mic, they went on their way once more.

"That is exactly what I am saying, Mai. And that is mortifying," Masako murmured darkly. Mai stopped, her eyes wide. Bad, she could understand. Terrible—coming from Masako that would mean the same thing. But mortifying? As in, same level as death, rot, and decay? That would not be a word for the mature Masako to toss around so lightheartedly.

"Don't you think you're exaggerating a little bit, Masako?" Mai chuckled nervously, attempting to wave off the foreboding aura emanating from the medium as well as the new round of raw emotions that was coming from the sea outside. The churning of her own stomach did not help the matter, telling her that her friend was on the right track. However, this was becoming harder to discern the more the two walked. The further they progressed from the base, the stronger the emotions seemed to pull at her, making it more difficult to tell her own gut feelings or intuition.

It was extremely distracting, to say the least. And Mai found herself wanting to give into the strong pull.

"Not at all. In fact, I believe mortifying is an understatement," the experienced girl claimed. Mai began to wonder what was so horrible about having emotions and voiced this thought aloud.

Once these words were said, however, Masako stopped. She did not turn around, yet Mai could feel the seriousness that emanated from the words that next came out of her mouth and knew instantly they could be true. The refined medium would not take a matter such as this lightly, given that it could possibly affect her life as well.

Without so much as another sound, the two girls continued to set up the remaining two camera and microphone sets, each thinking of the somber direction their banter had taken them.

"Naru," Lin's voice was quiet throughout the base, yet it sliced through the air with such a subtle ferocity a normal man would have flinched. However, we have already established that Naru was not a normal man. He did not even blink. He was, however listening.

"Why did we not at least bring Takigawa-san? Even when we do not need his experience, he is still useful for carrying the equipment," Lin observed steadily, not allowing his charge out of his eagle vision. The young man made no visible reaction and instead chose to remain silent. This, however, was to be expected of the raven-haired young man, and thus Lin proceeded with his questioning.

"This case is not even interesting. There have been no scientific signs of the spirit even existing here other than Hara-san's word. The cameras would not pick up anything on that," Lin continued, fishing for his charge's reason to take this case. They both knew what he was doing, and Naru was contemplating whether or not to answer his mentor, friend, and current babysitter. It was a decision he weighed carefully in his mind.

The air hummed with silence, broken occasionally by the need for Lin to direct either Hara-san or Mai on how to position the cameras to best suit their cause. Other than that, there was no normal klack-klack of the keyboard, nor the rustling pages of a book. All was still until Oliver made his decision.

"Mai's powers are going to expand. They've already begun," Naru said carefully, stating each word methodically. As expected, Lin's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Noll, you aren't—"

"I have to. If I don't see how far along her abilities are, there is no way to gauge how we can help her," Naru stated firmly. He did not like the tone with which Lin used his childhood nickname, and liked the fact that he had to test Mai—much like a rat—much less.

He was not looking forward to the point where he would have to tell her about her expanding abilities. Nor about how he knew the claim to be true.

The base was once again enveloped into an uncomfortable silence. And, mind you, these two males thrived on the eerie quiet. Lin cast his eyes onto his own computer screen, a current report on the current case stretched across its many pixels. Oliver's own eyes flitted across the file of the case, which was not large by any means of the word as of yet.

"How long?" Lin inquired, finally curious. How long had the young man known about the growth of the brunette's powers? Was this why he had done little else than bury himself in books—the incident with the Yasuhara child aside—ever since the Rose case?

"Since the last case," Naru stated concisely, conveniently leaving out that it was his own brother who had enlightened the scientist to this fact, rather than his own observation. Mai may have domineered many of his thoughts, but surprisingly few of them were about her abilities as a latent psychic. Correction, surprisingly few of them had been about her abilities as a latent psychic. Now that the young man knew her powers were expanding, he needed to know how much, at what rate, and if she would be safe during the change.

If she were not…

"Oliver, you realize that even though this is a low-level case, the risk that Taniyama-san is currently in—"

"I already know," Naru interrupted, by now staring at the man he trusted. Lin was glaring back evenly, questioning just this side of accusation concentrated in his eyes. Naru knew the situation was serious because of the use of his official name in Japan—an unspoken taboo until his brother's murderess was caught.

The two men held their even staring match for a long while. Inquisitive grey slants of vision clashed with steely blue orbs of defiance. Until, of course, the static of the walkie-talkie interrupted their wordless battle of wills.

"Is this good, Lin-san?" Mai's voice broke through the radio, the final camera in place. Lin broke his staring match with his charge and friend to direct the positioning of the camera to be more accurate. After a few moments of jerky camerawork, the elder man was satisfied with the visual information being transmitted from camera five and called the girls back to the base.

"Rodger that, we'll be there soon," Mai's voice would seem cheerful to most anyone, and even Lin was almost deceived. Naru, however, could pick up on her troubled voice a mile away. And he had a very good hypothesis as to why the endearing brunette's disposition would not be quite as cheerful as normal.

Yes, he just thought of Mai Taniyama as endearing. Not that he would act upon it, no. He believed he knew who her heart truly belonged to, so he would do his best not to act upon how he felt, however difficult the situation he found himself, he told himself he would not act upon his feelings.

He coached himself to be cold and scientific when it came to her, though it did not work all of the time. The mere fact that he took this case was proof of his weakness towards the clumsy girl who had wormed her way into his heart, slowly breaking it from the inside out without even trying.

"Hara-san is an experienced medium," Naru finally stated as a matter-of-fact, all emotion depleted completely. Lin knew the tone well. His charge was going somewhere with this, yet the connection to Taniyama-san's expanding powers and Hara-san's expertise seemed strangely elusive. Unless…

"Noll, do you intend to have Hara-san train her?" Lin asked, his tone just as dry as his companion's. A mirthless smirk found itself on Naru's face as an answer to the question.

"For now, yes. While it is possible for Mai's abilities to grow beyond Hara-san's, for now there are a few things that can only be Mai can only learn from her," the young scientist acknowledged. How he hated to admit there was something he could not do for her, something that someone else could do better…

"How do you know that Hara-san will agree?" Lin inquired. While he accepted that there were some things that could only be learned and taught by mediums, he seemed doubtful that the prideful kimono-clad girl would willingly help their clumsy assistant to grasp her abilities. When he and his charge had left those months ago, the two had not been on agreeable terms, to say the least.

Now, however, the tall man had no idea.

"I believe that Hara-san owes me," Naru stated solidly, his eyes sliding across the page before him at a normal pace, indicating that he was indeed absorbing the inked information. "It's time I called in a few of her 'favors'."

There was a pregnant pause after that last statement. Both were contemplating the course of action that the young man was about to take. It seemed to be the most logical—if not treacherous—of their options.

On that tense note, the two girls re-entered the base somberly. Naru noticed this and was contemplating who exactly should be sent out to gather temperatures, as that was the next thing to be done. He needed to gain Hara-san's cooperation with his plan as well as inquire as to what she had felt around the house.

Before he knew what he had said, he found himself and Mai out of the base going to collect the baseline temperatures. Most odd…

14AmyChan: okay, so I left a few things out on purpose, like-

Mai: What did Masako say that was so serious?

14AmyChan: Well, that-

Naru: How does Hara-san owe me?

14AmyChan: Well, when she blackmailed you, you thought it was a bit excessive, so-

Lin: What is going to happen now that Hara-san and I are in the base while Naru and Mai are collecting temperatures?

14AmyChan: ARGH! *stalks off to go write up actual answers*

Masako: ...well, now that she is going to sulk like a child, I suggest you review and lift her spirits. A happy author is one who posts more frequently, and thus gives you more chapters concerning the actual case.