Chapter 16

Mai sat at the low table in the base, wrapped tightly in a blanket, drinking some tea that Yasuhara made for her. As soon as Lin and Naru returned with Mai, Naru unceremoniously threw her into the change area to the bath and told her to get warmed up. Before she could protest, Naru stalked out of the room, and Yasuhara came in carrying her bag. Yasuhara handed her her things and told her much the same before closing the door firmly behind him.

Mai sighed and snuck a peek at her boss. While he had the same deadpan expression on his face that he always wore, the air around him seemed very dark and heavy. She could sense a wave of cold radiating from him and knew that he was in a very, very bad mood at the moment.

Naru gazed at Mai for a long moment before finally opening his mouth. "Did you come here to work or to cause trouble, Taniyama-san?"

Mai flinched at his icy tone and looked down. Her voice was scarcely audible as she responded, "To work."

She stared at the table unable to look up and meet his gaze. After a long moment, she heard Naru sigh. "What were you doing in there?"

Mai shivered but obediently gave her account on what had happened after she left Naru earlier that day. She didn't look up at all as she spoke.

Naru frowned slightly as Mai spoke of her two-way radio being stolen from her and how she'd been trapped in the loft in the barn. His expression became serious when she mentioned the sounds she'd heard in the dark there. Naru remembered the blood they'd found on the loft floor. Whatever it was might have been going after Mai when, for whatever reason, it stopped.

Naru tapped the table lost in thought for a long moment before turning to look at Yasuhara. "Yasuhara-san, contact the others and see if they can come out here. Hara-san if at all possible, but Bou-san at the very least."

"Yes sir." Yasuhara glanced at Mai. She was still a little pale.

"Did your brother say anything about the spirit or spirits in that house?" Yasuhara asked Naru curiously.

Mai glanced at Yasuhara then snuck a peek at Naru.

Naru grimaced slightly when Yasuhara mentioned Gene. "A little. He mentioned that the abandoned house should be safe as long as people go there in groups."

Mai looked back down at the table. She couldn't help having mixed feelings about Naru having been in contact with Gene. 'It makes sense. It means there's something out here, but probably not in this house.' she thought morosely. 'And they've been able to communicate directly with one another ever since the Agawa case. That's why I gave Naru that mirror, after all.'

Mai felt a pang in her chest as she thought about Gene still being there and being awake. 'I'm glad I didn't see him since I'm afraid of what I might do, but... I wish I could've seen him. It's only been a bit over a month, but I really do love his smile. I am glad that he and Naru were able to talk to one another again, but... I can't help wishing I could've seen him, too. Gene...' Mai knew it was silly for her to feel jealous of Naru for having been the one to speak to Gene. After all, the two were brothers and twins. But she couldn't help how she felt.

She sensed Naru looking at her and glanced up briefly but looked down again almost immediately.

"Next time, you talk to that idiot, Taniyama-san. Better still, see if you can convince him to go on to the afterlife instead of hanging around here all the time." There was a hint of annoyance in Naru's voice, but Mai sensed it wasn't directed at her.

She glanced at Naru again and cocked her head to one side. 'I wonder if something happened between Naru and Gene...?'

Naru looked away. "He said you were avoiding him. He's an idiot but not an insensitive clod, so it's probably safe for you to get some sleep."

A strange, confused look passed over Mai's face. 'An insensitive clod? Where did that come from?!' she wondered to herself.

"You should get some sleep as well, Naru," Lin said suddenly from where he was sitting by the monitors.

Naru glared at Lin. "I'm fine."

Lin gazed at Naru steadily, but it was Naru who looked away first.

When the two had reached the locked barn, Lin distinctly heard Naru curse lightly under his breath saying, "So that's what he was about to say." Lin had been about to suggest going back for bolt cutters when he saw Naru reach out and touch the lock. The next instant, he distinctly heard the lock click open.

Even though it was a small use of his PK, Naru had promised his father he wouldn't use that ability. He'd already broken that promise once in the Agawa case, and Lin knew that he should've thrown Naru onto the next plane back to England when he realised what Naru had done. However, given the situation they'd been in, and given that Naru had been able to toss energy with Gene, there'd been no serious risk to Naru. This time, however...

Naru's head snapped up and he glared at Lin. Yasuhara and Mai looked at Naru and Lin confused.

"I realise you were worried about Taniyama-san, but you're not supposed to use PK."

Mai's eyes widened in surprise while Yasuhara looked mildly amused.

"Naru... did you use PK?" Mai asked hesitantly.

Naru wouldn't meet her gaze and refused to answer her question.

"You mustn't do that, Naru." The concern was almost palpable in her tone, and Naru finally turned to look at her.

"You're one to talk, Taniyama-san?" he asked raising an eyebrow archly.

Mai bit her lower lip. "You should get some rest too, Naru, especially if you used your PK."

A cold smile flickered across Naru's face. "Is that any invitation, Taniyama-san? I didn't realise you wanted to sleep together in the same room so much."

Mai recoiled slightly as she met his eyes. They definitely weren't laughing.

"Naru...?" she asked hesitantly.

He let a hint of cold amusement creep into his eyes. "Shall I take you up on your offer?"

"Wha--!" Mai instantly turned beet red.

Elsewhere in the room, Yasuhara blinked in surprise while Lin went slightly pale.

Naru wiped all expression from his face as he suddenly reached out and slapped Mai on the forehead lightly. "Never mind about me. Go to bed."

Mai blinked, uncertain of what she just saw. Before Naru resumed his usually expressionless façade, she could've sworn she saw a hint of real amusement in Naru's eyes. Mai shook her head violently in disbelief. That was absolutely impossible.

"Good night!" she yelled, as she ran into the next room, closing the fusuma violently shut behind her.

Lin gazed steadily at his young ward for a long moment uncertain of what he'd just seen. While Gene often liked to play pranks and fool around, Naru had never been the type. He briefly wondered if Naru might've hit his head at some point in the investigation without his knowledge or if Naru had been affected in some bizarre manner by whatever might be haunting the abandoned house they'd visited while searching for Mai.

Yasuhara chuckled softly having quickly recovered from his initial surprise. He was sure that if Bou-san were here, the monk would now be an empty shell whose spirit had fled its body in shock. However, he quickly wiped the amusement from his face and glanced at Lin and Naru. Lin still had a slightly distant look in his eyes suggesting he still hadn't fully come back to himself.

"What was that thing Taniyama-san described as coming towards her in the loft?" Yasuhara asked Naru.

Naru frowned then shook his head. "I don't know. At the very least, none of the reports so far would've made me expect anything like that to happen." Naru glanced at Lin. "Lin, did you sense anything in the barn when we entered?"

Lin shook his head. "However, one of my shiki did react to something shortly before we found Taniyama-san. Naru, are you planning on keeping Taniyama-san with us for the rest of this case?"

Yasuhara looked at Lin curiously. Naru slowly nodded after a moment's pause.

"It's probably safer to keep her with us for now," Naru said. "We need to find out if whatever was in that barn lives there and Mai just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, or if something else is at work here. But just in case..." Naru glanced at Lin.

Lin nodded. "I have three of my shiki guarding her."

The three turned towards the shoji at the sound of the front door opening. Nakai and Hirota came into the base looking chilled and tired.

"We found her," Hirota said heavily as he sat down.

Naru waited patiently for Hirota to tell him what they found.

Hirota shook his head. "We won't know how she died until an autopsy is done, but..." He closed his eyes briefly. "From what I saw, it looked like some large animal had gotten to the body and partially eaten it."

Naru's eyes narrowed. "How long until you have the preliminary autopsy result?"

Hirota shook his head. "It could take some time."

"Um, Shochou," Yasuhara interjected raising his hand. "I'm not entirely following the conversation here. Who's been found, where, why, and how?"

"You heard how Mai'd been trapped in the loft of a barn near here," Naru said quietly. "Katou Hiroshi had been out searching for his daughter when he suddenly found himself picking up an axe and killing the rest of his family. His daughter, however, was never found."

Yasuhara nodded. He knew that from when Hirota first came to the office requesting the investigation.

"What if Mai wasn't the first person to be trapped in that barn?" Naru asked seriously. "The padlock and chain on the door weren't so old that they're rusted or falling apart, so the probability of someone randomly being able to get inside is extremely low; you'd need a key. The search for the missing girl involved the surrounding area and those buildings that are readily accessible. However, while the building Mai was trapped in was fairly flimsy, it didn't seem to be used very much, and it was kept locked. The residents of that property appear to be out a lot, and that building is a bit distant from the house, so they might not notice if anything happened there."

Naru glanced at Hirota. "I take it they weren't home and that they didn't return while you were there?"

Hirota shook his head. "One of the investigators mentioned that the people who own that property are away on a retirement trip and have been gone for over a month now. They learned about that when they did the initial search for the girl a few weeks ago, which is why they didn't think to break the lock on the barn. The local police will try to contact the owners, but it could take some time as they're said to have gone overseas for their trip."

Naru nodded. "When Lin and I entered the barn, there was the distinct smell of putrefaction, but there were no signs of animals having been kept there recently. I don't think Mai noticed the lack of animals when she first went in there, so she probably didn't think too much about the smell. Mai said she didn't move around too much in the loft because she couldn't see where the floor ended very well and felt it unsafe. Most likely, that was her sixth sense kicking in as the loft seems to be in a pretty poor state of repair. There are places where she could very easily have fallen through the floor. Unfortunately, we won't know how the girl – Katou Aiko – died until Hirota-san gets the autopsy results."

Naru frowned slightly. "There's also the question of what went after Mai in there. It didn't look like there were any large animals living in the barn, and since Mai was in the loft, it would either have to have been up there, or it would have to have been able to get up there. If there is something in there, it's possible it could've succeeded in killing or causing the Katou girl's death. However, at the moment, we don't know what – if anything – is in there, so there's no way to be sure. We don't even know if what happened to Mai is related to how the girl died."

"By the way," Hirota said, "we're probably going to need to get a statement from Taniyama-san. She's obviously not a suspect, but we need to know where she was and what she was doing in the loft." Hirota's gaze was steady as he looked at Naru.

Naru shrugged slightly and glanced at Lin. "Lin?"

"Taniyama-san's report was recorded, so there shouldn't be any problem with that. However..." Lin hesitated.

"Hmm... yeah," Yasuhara said from his corner. "I don't think her comments about something moving in the dark in there would go over too well if there's nothing else living in the building. People might question her sanity. Is there any way to cut that part out without making things seem too unnatural?" he asked.

Lin frowned slightly as he turned towards the computer.

Nakai raised her hand. "Doctor, I have a question. You mentioned Taniyama-san's sixth sense as though it were a significant factor in her actions. Do you mean to say that she's psychic? You've denied that possibility every time I've brought the subject up, so why is she different?"

A flicker of annoyance crossed Naru's face. But before he could say anything, Yasuhara interjected. "Ah! I'd heard that you tested Taniyama-san, but I have no idea what sort of test it was. I'm a bit curious about that actually."

Naru let out a long sigh. "Mai was tested for psychic ability after the Yuasa H.S. case. Her test result was significant. Isn't that enough?"

Yasuhara had a wry smile on his face. He knew his boss didn't like to speak about certain things, but... "What sort of test was it? If I were interested, would I be able to take it too?"

Naru looked at Yasuhara. "You could easily take the test if you had a few hours to spare, but I would expect it to be a complete waste of time."

Yasuhara laughed. "It hurts a bit to have it said so plainly."

Naru shrugged. "It's the truth."

Yasuhara shook his head slightly. "What sort of test is it?" he asked again.

Naru sighed. "It's a simple test. A machine randomly lights one of four lights and the examinee has to guess which one it'll be. This test is then repeated a thousand times in order to get a result that is statistically significant and not due to chance."

Hirota and Nakai looked at each other when they heard Naru's last statement. 'The test is repeated a thousand times?'

Yasuhara cocked his head. "I heard Taniyama-san's result was quite impressive. She got them all right?"

Naru shook his head. "If she did she would be precognitive. She was wrong on every single attempt."

Yasuhara blinked at Mai's test result as he considered the Naru's statement. His eyes widened when he realised what Naru was saying. "That is interesting," he admitted looking amused.

Hirota and Nakai exchanged another even more confused glance. 'Being wrong is significant??'

Hirota hesitantly raised his hand. "You lost me. I don't see why Taniyama-san being wrong on her test is so significant."

Annoyance flashed across Naru's countenance again, but it was Yasuhara who replied. "Hirota-san, what's the probability of guessing correctly – by chance – for the test Shibuya-san just described?"

Hirota frowned. "One in four."

Yasuhara nodded. "And for getting it wrong?"

"Three fourths."

"How about if you did another test?" Yasuhara asked.

"The same. The probability doesn't change."

Yasuhara nodded. "Right. So, what's the probability of getting all wrong answers if you did the test twice?

"Umm... three quarters times three quarters, so... nine sixteenths."

Yasuhara nodded. "That's at two tests. What if you repeated the test a thousand times?"

Hirota frowned as he started to mentally calculate the probability. With each repeat of the test, the overall probability of every answer being wrong was compounded by another factor of 0.75. In other words, the probability of getting all wrong answers went down, little by little, with each test and slowly approached zero. The more he thought about it, the more incredible such a result seemed.

Naru smiled cynically at Nakai. "Do you have any other questions as to why Taniyama-san's intuition is significant compared to other untested people?"

Nakai said nothing as she looked away.

"But it also sounds a bit troublesome, especially if you consider Taniyama-san's penchant for running after trouble," Yasuhara said suddenly. "I mean, it's one thing to never guess right on a school test, but what if Taniyama-san were in danger, and she had to make a split second decision between two unknowns? Would her sensitivity to danger kick in causing her to choose rightly, or would her inability to choose correctly take over and make her choose wrongly?"