Trouble

Chapter 23

July

Day 2

10:30 am

Naru had decided to call it a day last night after Mai got hurt. I went to visit her after we made sure everything was secured. She said she was doing okay now, but she was still scared of that spirit. She told me to be careful and I told her to call me if she ever had any dreams that related to this case. Right now, I'm on my way to the TV studio. Naru said that he wanted everyone to meet there at the same time we met up yesterday. When I got there though, there was a police cruiser out front and Detective Fujiwara was walking out of the studio. What was he doing here? Did someone get killed? He waved at me, smiling a little before getting into his car. I waved as he drove off. What was that about? I hurried to go find Naru. Naru was in the base talking to Lin. "Naru, what was Detective Fujiwara doing here?" I asked frantically. He sighed.

"I spotted Ichirou-san on the way here. He was standing outside a car talking to another man. As soon as we arrived, I called Detective Fujiwara and it seemed Ichirou-san had moved on before Detective Fujiwara could get to him." He said looking grim.

"I thought he was going to prison." I said my mouth feeling dry.

"He was, but he escaped when they were transferring him from the jail to the transportation van." Lin explained. "Detective Fujiwara did some further investigation on Ichirou-san's life and the man he was speaking to turns out to be an old acquaintance of his. I think that man is also into doing dark magic." I sat down in one of the seats. I needed to process this.

"Do you think the reason why this spirit is so angry is because of Ichirou-san and this man?" I asked feeling more horrified by the second.

"I think it's a possibility. Detective Fujiwara thinks he's trying to get revenge on us." Naru said as Lin sat a cup of tea down in front of him. "He wanted us to step down from this case, but when Nijimura-san heard our conversation and started to freak out about it, Detective Fujiwara said for us to be careful and if we see Ichirou-san again, to call him." I nodded. I jinxed it yesterday, didn't I?

"Okay," I said trying to calm myself down. Ichirou-san hasn't made contact with us yet, so we're okay for now. I reassured myself.

"Aki, if you don't want to continue with this case, then I understand." Naru said to me. I shook my head.

"No, I can do it. I just need a moment to process this. I'll be fine in a moment." I said sighing.

"If at some point I feel that you can't do it, then I will take you off the case." He said in a more stern voice. I nodded.

"I understand, Naru." I said as Ayako rubbed my right shoulder in comfort. "Thank you for giving me this chance." He nodded before picking up some papers. From what I could tell, it was the room temps for the stage where the backdrop fell and for this room as well.

"Shibuya-san! Noa-san isn't responding!" Nijimura-san yelled rushing into the room.

"Where is she?" Naru asked immediately. John grabbed his holy water and rosary and we followed Nijimura-san to Noa-san. When we found her, she was just staring at a wall and the rest of the staff was watching her from a distance. I stayed back with Lin and Ayako and watched as John, Naru, and Monk approached Noa-san.

"Noa-san?" John called out to her. She slowly turned around and glared at him. I could see the spirit inside of her! I focused on not puking and covered my mouth with a hand. This spirit wasn't a spirit at all. It was definitely a demon!