SPR: Is This Normal - CH 26

14AmyChan: here comes an update~! *^_^*

Naru: *glaring at 14AmyChan*

Mai: I don't think he's very happy with you...

14AmyChan: well, my readers may like me after this. or they may not. *^_^*

Mai: why...?

14AmyChan: ooh, wait, I actually have a question... eh, I'll ask it at the end of the chapter. *^_^*

Mai: AmyChan doesn't own Ghost Hunt.

"Masako!" Mai heaved a sigh of relief upon seeing one of her friends safe and unharmed. However, something was not right. Masako was not wearing her traditional kimono; she was still in the pajamas she had slept in the night before. Well, so was Mai, but that is not a point worth questioning.

"Hara-san, what did you mean by 'We find you'?" Lin asked, his eyes narrowed. Mai's eyes widened as the words suddenly clicked in her brain, as well as their obvious meaning.

"Masako's been possessed…" Mai whispered, her eyes wide as saucers. The young woman at the doorway nodded politely.

"I'm sorry it has come to this, but I need your help. This one is not strong enough to help me and the other kept blocking me from the one who could," Masako stated, her voice wavering. Mai could not tell if it were from fear or from something else. Now that Mai took a closer look, the experienced medium's body was trembling. Shivering slightly, and not from the cold, that much was guaranteed.

"What do you mean by 'blocking'?" Mai asked, her curiosity fueling her question. It was, however, waved off by the ghost possessing Masako.

"I'm afraid I don't have much time here, so I must be quick. This girl is not strong enough to help me. She wants to send me away, and I simply cannot have that," the ghost's voice seemed to be overtaking Masako's, her tone—though wavering due to the body's tremors—seemed oddly defiant as it continued to speak.

"I need you to help me."

"Where is Noll?" Lin asked, his tone accusatory. Masako appeared not to have heard nor seen the tall man, but rather, kept staring at Mai. Mai stared right back, weighing her options. She was supposed to hear a song of some sort; that much she already knew. She already suspected that it would be the lullaby she had heard earlier, perhaps the song in its entirety.

Naru had said it was called 'My Bonnie lies over the Ocean'.

Naru. If everything in this house were to be settled, would he be returned safely? Was he safe now? Usually, Naru could get himself out of any jam. He had gotten himself and his brunette assistant out of many a rough patch before, so the fact that she did not know his exact location was unsettling to Mai, to say the least. She wanted him back safely, and she wanted it now!

"If I help you, will you bring Naru back safe and sound?" Mai asked slowly. Masako's head nodded solemnly. Mai began to walk forward when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Lin was stopping her.

"Taniyama-san, how do you know this spirit will keep its word?" Lin questioned, his eyes narrowed. Yes, he wanted Oliver back as badly as Mai, but being rash about it would do neither of them any good. It could, in fact, do just the opposite.

"She won't betray me. She wants my help too badly," Mai reassured him as she walked forward. She approached Masako, ready to cross the threshold of the base, when a small sliver of doubt, backed by basic logic, halted her for but a moment.

"Promise me," Mai stated softly, so that Lin could not hear. "Promise me he is safe…"

"Hurry, please…" the ghost's voice wavered even more, and Mai could see a face appear behind Masako. It was not long, but it was enough to convince the young brunette that this ghost would not intentionally hurt anyone.

Mai stepped over the base's entryway, and soon thereafter collapsed on the ground.

"Mama!" a little girl's voice called, giggling happily. Mai watched as a young girl with brunette pigtails and a beautiful dress ran gleefully across a newly polished wooden floor. This girl would have looked to be in her Sunday best were it not for what she was carrying.

"Mama, look at what I caught!" the girl cried out with joy, swinging around seven fish on a line, each dead and already properly cleaned. Mai sweat dropped at the sight. How old was this girl? Five? And already catching so much?

"Oh!" an older woman—presumably the mother—gasped aloud at the sight of the fish. Mai could tell the woman forced herself to smile at the sight, even though it was plainly obvious that she wanted those things out of her face immediately.

"D-did you catch those?" the mother asked. The child nodded happily, and went on to say something more when her petite voice was cut off by another sound.

My daughter has gone a-sailing…

Mai looked around, looking for the source of the familiar voice. It was the ghost that had cornered her in the kitchen, the same voice that had possessed Masako.

So busy was she in looking for the source of the voice that she barely noticed the scenes around her changing. Now that Mai looked, the brunette girl and her mother had grown approximately ten years.

And they were arguing.

"Okaa-san, it's perfectly safe!" the girl protested, her eyes alight with flame. In her hands, she carried a piece of paper. Because it was crumpled in the angry girl's fist, Mai could not read its contents, but rather had to listen to the conversation to attempt to pick out pieces of valuable information.

"No, it's not! What about Watanuke-kun down the street?! Everyone is still looking for him and his crew after that last storm! It's not safe!" the mother pleaded. Tears threatened to spill over from the elder woman's eyes and Mai could tell that the girl hesitated for a moment, but refused to give up on whatever issue they were arguing.

"I can't just not try! This is what I've wanted for my whole life! And, before he died, even dad—"

"NO!" the elderly woman screamed, her temper clearly snapped. The younger girl's face drained of color and her cinnamon colored eyes widened with fright as her mother went on a tirade. "THIS IS FINAL! You are not to take that position on that man's ship!

"I FORBID IT!"

A-sailing away from me…

The voice sung again, and this time Mai knew better than to look for its source. She watched as the landscape morphed around her again, this time showing another scene. If Mai were to guess, then it would have been a few days to a couple of weeks after the argument she had just seen.

"Where…?" the mother whispered, being alone in a room. Her eyes shone with worry, and she seemed borderline frantic. "Where is she…?"

Suddenly, a door opened, revealing the young brunette woman. She wore a beautiful dress, simple yet beautiful, and had her long hair done up properly. Her makeup seemed—to Mai—a little rushed, but looked cute all the same.

"There you are!" the mother cried happily, giving her daughter a once-over before smiling in approval.

"How was your date? Did he take you down to the harbor again…?" the woman asked seriously. The girl chuckled nervously before nodding. Now that she was paying attention, Mai could see the sweat upon the younger girl's brow.

Why do I get the feeling I'm not seeing the whole truth here…? Mai wondered. She noticed that the girl held her arms carefully at her sides, and that her left arm was hidden suspiciously behind her back in such a way that the elderly woman seemed to take no heed of it.

"Okaa-san, I'm tired. I think I will retire for now. Shall I see you at dinner?" the girl asked politely, keeping a fair distance from her mother. The elderly woman nodded happily and the young girl all but fled the room.

"I'm so glad she's not doing any fishing on those terrible waters…" the mother said, a smile on her face, completely and blissfully ignorant of the small gasps of pain that came from the other side of the wall.

Mai wondered what on earth the younger girl was doing all by herself in the other room.

My daughter has gone a-sailing…

"Where is she…?" the mother asked yet again. This time, however, instead of pacing a sea-side room, she was anxiously searching through a bedroom. Though not completely in disarray, it was obvious the room and its contents were being probed for answers.

"Three days… where is she…?" the frantic mother asked yet again. She turned over a dress that had lain half-hazardly on the ground, bumps indicating that something lay underneath. A secret, perhaps?

Beneath the dress laid a pair of overalls and a button-down shirt, both dirty and—now that Mai could smell—reeked of the stench of dead fish.

The mother looked around some more, finally digging in the closet. Hidden away behind its doors was a pair of boots and a bag, filled with cash and notes. Many of them read to someone named "Akito", offering congratulations for jobs well done. Offering praise for promotions. Telling Akito what an excellent fisherman he was. Telling him to get over that nasty gash on his left arm so he could work properly the next day.

"What is the meaning of all of this…?" the elderly woman croaked sadly, looking between the notes and the money and the boots and the work clothes she had found. Confusion swept all around her, and the memory began to fade to black.

Out to the deathly sea…

Mai looked around, hoping for another clue. The woman that had possessed Masako and was now showing Mai these memories was the same woman as the mother. Though Mai still did not understand.

What was being expected of her? What did this woman want?

Bring back, bring back, oh, bring back Akiko for me, for me

Mai looked around her, certain she would find the woman now. Most certainly to her left side the woman appeared, facing straight forwards. Mai turned to see what the ghost was looking at and soon found herself on the docks with no one around.

"Awaken now, and please bring back, bring back, oh bring back Akiko for me…"

Mai's eyes snapped wide open. She attempted to sit up quickly only to have a wave of dizziness overcome her. She flopped backwards and shut her eyes. She decided to take a few deep breaths to prepare herself before attempting that again.

A few deep breaths later and a bit of mental coaching, Mai finally sat up, clutching onto her head. She waited a moment more for the fog to clear out of her brain before assessing what she knew.

The ghost that haunted this place was a concerned mother. From the looks of it, her daughter had taken a job on a fishing boat under the alias of 'Akito' against her mother's wishes. A storm or some other disaster then wreaked havoc on the fishers, taking 'Akito' out to sea and the mother never saw her child again.

And now that same mother wants me to find her daughter, Akiko, Mai thought as she groaned. Or Akito, whichever name she… or, he… prefers…

"How am I supposed to do that?!" Mai cried out, exasperated. Yes, she wanted to help this spirit, but she had no idea the time period when this had happened, nor had she any idea if the daughter was dead or alive. Were she alive, it could be a little easier to find her. But if the girl was dead, then Mai was at a complete loss.

Okay, calm down, what would Naru do right now…? Mai wondered, stopping herself before she got too carried away with her internal ranting. She had to think through this logically, otherwise that same boy—whom she loved even though he was a total jerk at some points—would have the possibility of being seriously hurt.

Or worse… Mai took a moment to think long and hard about what needed to be done next.

"Research…" Mai stated, the answer coming to her. Naru would send one of them—most likely Yasu, since he was best at it—for research in order to know the time period of the spirits they worked with. What could have possibly happened that led to what was happening now? Who were they and what could they possibly want?

Although Mai knew the "what", she was sure that a little more information—such as "who" had asked this of her or "how" she was to go about doing so—would not lead her astray.

Mai searched herself for her phone to call Yasu only to realize that she was still in her pajamas and her phone was still in her room. She turned to the base of the docks to walk to the house in order to get it, only to find the woman there, standing with her arms crossed and a look that obviously said 'none may pass through this point'.

"I have to get back to the house if I want to help you," Mai tried to reason with the ghost after attempting—and failing—to get through several times. The ghost had pushed her back each time, keeping her on the docks. Mai was quickly becoming frustrated.

"What am I supposed to do, then?!" Mai cried out with exasperation, fear for Naru's safety and frustration clouding her better judgment that told her it would not do any good to yell at the spirit. The mother simply pointed to the ocean, not making a sound. The poor girl was confused. She had no idea what this spirit expected her to do.

"I don't understand, you have to tell me what you want," Mai stated, realizing that her only access to information was the soundless—yet quite annoying at this point—ghost in front of her. The mother simply jabbed in the direction of the sea once more, this time with a little more force. Mai groaned in frustration.

At this rate, she'll never give us Naru back…! Mai thought in despair. What am I supposed to do?!

Suddenly, the ghost came up close to Mai, a serious and pleading look in her eye. Mai could tell the spirit was frantic and desperate, and suddenly feared her. Humans are unpredictable enough when running on those kinds of emotions, yet spirits had the ability to do some really weird crap when that desperate.

"Look!" the ghost whispered urgently. Mai was about to ask what exactly that meant when the spirit answered her with actions.

And Mai suddenly found herself better off not knowing.

The young brunette girl was pushed off the dock and into the frigid water of the ocean. Already cold in the summer, this winter water seemed unforgiving as it caused the unprepared girl to jerk uncontrollably, her consciousness quickly becoming lost in the shock.

A sharp pain in her head caused her to see spots, sapping the girl of most of her energy. Her vision then became black.

14AmyChan: fun fact, Akiko/Akito was actually Clarisse/Clark when I first thought of it. I changed the names because I thought it would be more fun that way. *^_^*

Naru: *looks really lit with 14AmyChan*

14AmyChan: Okay, so my question is do you guys want me to sing my version of 'My Bonnie' and put it on youtube? I already have Clarisse/Clark/Akiko/Akito drawn, so that would pretty much be the entire video. XDD

Mai: enough of that, I'M DROWNING! I thought you said your readers will like you after this!?

14AmyChan: no, not after this, but after the event that will take place three minutes after this upload.

Mai: huh...?