Blazing Soul

Chapter One: Struggles And Premonitions

Night had already fallen by the time Kazuya Shibuya, head investigator of the Shibuya Psychic Research Company, finally got home so tired that he planed to go to bed after a warm shower. Three days had passed since he was released from the hospital, but his body was still recovering from the huge amount of energy he lost on the last case that almost killed him.

He gave a deep sigh and let the warm water run over his naked body. With his eyes closed he thought of the events that make him end up in a hasty trip to the nearest hospital half death. It was more than obvious that many things went wrong during the last case and most of them were entirely his fault. He had been on the ghost hunting business for a long time and even if he only was seventeen years old, he was not a beginner in any way. That's why there were no real reasons for him to have made so many mistakes at the same time. He had let himself be possessed by a violent spirit when he should have avoided it at all cost and by doing so, he let the rest of his team on a tight situation.

Two people die back then while he was unconscious and he couldn't help himself thinking that maybe if he wasn't possessed during most of the investigation, things might have turned out differently. If he had spent more time solving the case, he could have solved it without casualties. By the time he was in control over his body again, his team was already injured and tired, but he was so angry and frustrated with himself that he didn't see how far he was pushing them to what could have cost them their lives. Maybe that's why Mai's words during their latest fight hurt him so badly. She had told him things he didn't want to hear, all the things he feared the most and didn't want to see. She had wounded his pride. Because of that, he ended up losing control over himself and his unnatural powers, which almost kill him on the spot.

"Mai Taniyama..." He whispers to himself while letting his hands resting on the wall, the rest of his body still under the warm water. There was something about her that he can't explain. Something that was deeply rooted within him that he couldn't fully understand. She had provoked him many times since he knew her for the first time eight months ago. By that time, he and Lin Koujo (his personal assistant and right hand man) were working on a case on her high school. On their second day on that site, she manages to hurt Lin on an accident, for which he had more or less forced her to replace him during the rest of his investigation.

At first, he only took advantage of her. He needed the help and she was naive enough to believe in the lie that he used, to make her work for him. Later, she proved to have her own talent, not only because she had good instincts, but she also had latent psychic powers that helped him solve other cases. Right at that point, his relationship with her was far more complex that he intended. There was no point in denying to himself that her words can reach his emotions all the way down to his very core and it wasn't the first time it had happened.

Looking back, he had some troubles before trying to stop her from doing something foolish or letting her feelings interfere with his work. He let himself be open to her. He let her penetrate far too deep on his own emotions for his own good. Now she has become a kind of unexpected weakness for him and he had no idea what to do about it. After all, he was only temporarily working in Japan under the S.P.R. name. Once he fulfills his wish and find out what he was looking for, he had no reason to stay in Japan anymore. At least there would be not a valid reason other than more interesting cases that could satisfy the scientific curiosity his father had, over his fear of losing yet another son far away from home.

"Damn Mai... what did you do with me?" He asked to himself in frustration, letting the water run through his body for a couple of minutes more until he turned off the shower and got out of the bathroom after drying himself and change his clothes.

He gave a deep sigh before throwing himself over his bed. Even though everything seems to have returned to normal on the surface, he knew that things between them have simply escalated from complex to troublesome. Their discussions and their link were both getting stronger each day and he feared of how much bigger it would get. Of course that Masako Hara's jealousy didn't help it either.