PSC Series: The Haunted Celebrity | 6/XX
Title: PSC Series: The Haunted Celebrity
Chapter: 06
Author: アキ
Fandom: the GazettE, SCREW, Alice Nine, more to come
Disclaimer: I don't own the guys. Just the story.
Pairings: AoixRuki, ByouxRui, probably more to come
Genre: AU, horror, supernatural
Rating: PG, for now
Warning: None
Beta: None
Summary:
"PSC, which stands for Paranormal Studies Center, is an institution whose main object is to investigate various paranormal and supernatural events. This is the Department of Investigation and Recovery, where all investigative tasks are being done. My name is Kai, and I am the head of this Department. Welcome. How may I help you?"
Chapter 6
For a second Kai thought he had knocked the wrong door, because the man who opened it was not Yuu. He was taller and leaner, and appeared to be a few years younger than Yuu. He had shoulder-length light brown hair, round eyes, and several piercings on his lower lip. He was smiling when he greeted Kai and his team, but there was anxiety written all over his face that his smile couldn’t hide.
“Hi,” he said. His voice was crisp and friendly. “Aoi is waiting inside. Come on in.”
The man opened the door wider for Kai, Ruki and Hiroto, and the three of them swiftly filed into the apartment. Kai took a look around; earlier today he had heard Ruki’s brief explanation of the place, and, just as Ruki had described it, it didn’t look very celebrity-ish. The interior was rather simple-cozy, but still quite down-to-earth considering the glamorous image that Aoi posed out there in the entertainment world. But he supposed everyone had their personal taste, and Aoi-or Yuu-turned out to be the kind of man who didn’t like anything too fancy in his life beyond the big screen.
Led by the stranger, Kai and his staff entered the living room, where apparently Yuu was sitting on a sofa. The actor noticed the group approaching him, and he stood up from his seat to greet them.
“Thank you for coming on such a short notice,” he said, shaking everyone’s hands. The stranger that had opened the door for Kai and his staff sidled up to him, smiling. “Oh, right, let me introduce you to my manager,” Yuu continued, patting the man next to him on the shoulder. “His name is Kazuki.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you guys,” Kazuki said while he and Kai shook hands. “Aoi told me a bit about the problem he’s been having lately. I’m glad he’s found some professionals to help him solve it.”
Kai nodded. “We’re doing what we can, Kazuki-san,” he said, and continued to introduce his staff to Yuu’s manager.
Yuu proceeded to ask them all to sit down in his living room. Kai and his staff members crammed in one long sofa, Yuu sitting in front of them. Kazuki went through the troubles of getting a crate of beer for all of them from the refrigerator. Kai looked at Hiroto warily, and just as he feared, he could see how gleeful the blonde man was when those cans of beer passed under his sight. Kai nudged him-hard-with his elbow, and gave him a stern glare which only meant one thing: one can, no more. It was already a tiresome day without having to deal with a drunk, even-more-hyper-than-usual Hiroto tonight. Thankfully Hiroto seemed to understand; with timid hands he reached forward toward his can, opened it, and sipped slowly as if he was cherishing every last drop he was permitted to drink.
“Alright, Yuu-san, the sooner we get to the point, the better,” Kai said. “I’d like you to tell me, in detail, please; what happened after Ruki left this place?”
For a split second, Kai could see Yuu shiver as if a gush of cold wind was passing by, but the room was warm. It must have been a severe experience, because Yuu looked terrified even now after it had passed. His manager was sitting beside him, as if trying to give the man some moral support.
“Well,” the actor began. “After Ruki-san left, I went to the office and spent the whole afternoon there, discussing some new projects I have to do starting next month. I didn’t come home until 9 p.m. after dinner, and then around 10 p.m. I took a bath, and was done probably half an hour later. That’s when it started, in my room.” He paused, turning his head slightly to the side, eyeing the door on his left. Kai could easily guess that that’s his bedroom.
“I felt unusually good after bath,” he continued. “For the first few minutes I was sorting out the stuff I brought home from the office-a bundle of script, interview materials, etcetera; my stereo playing something nice. Nothing was out of place, and I was just thinking, finally, finally, I was going to have a calm night. But the door suddenly creaked open. I quickly turned to see who was there, but of course there was no one. I was all alone in my apartment. I tried to convince myself that I hadn’t properly closed the door, and the wind simply blew it open. It was a sad, useless attempt, of course, because the windows were closed so there couldn’t have been wind blowing inside the apartment.
“I didn’t have time to catch my breath because, the next thing I knew, the desk right in front of me rattled. The sound was like… like something just bumped against it. At first I thought it was an earthquake, but very soon I realized that the floor wasn’t shaking, and nothing else in the room moved besides the desk. I could feel the familiar fear emerging, getting a grip on me, but I told myself it couldn’t be happening again. I mean, Ruki-san had removed the cursed item from this house, so I had no reason to worry that the… creature, or whatever it is, is still here; right?”
Ruki cleared his throat before Yuu continued. “There is a possibility that we have taken the wrong item,” he said, sounding embarrassed. “It will need a longer, more thorough observation to make sure that there isn’t any other threatening item in this place.”
“That’s right,” Kai added. “The time it takes for the inspection stage is never the same in every case we’ve handled. Sometimes we need two, three days to get to the bottom of the matter. Some severe cases might even take a whole month of initial observation before we can move on to the next stage. It really depends on the situation.”
Before they left the institute earlier, Kai had been worried that Yuu would be disappointed in their performance in duty. After all, he had given his client his word that they would do the job as quickly as they could. And the situation earlier today had made them all believe that everything had been going smoothly and the job would be completed very soon. It wasn’t the first time that Kai and his team were mistaken. But no matter how often he confronted the same predicament, it never got easy, especially when he came face to face with his clients.
But fortunately Yuu didn’t seem like he was going to complain. “I see,” he said. “So it is most likely that whatever is causing these happenings is still here in my apartment?”
“I can’t say for sure until we conduct a more thorough research,” Kai answered. “Without any certainty as to what is causing your problems, we might as well be groping around in the dark. I can refer to various analyses, give you some assessment about your situation based merely on speculations, but I know that is not a wise thing to do. The last thing I should do is jump into the wrong conclusion. But please, do continue with your story first, and then we will try to sort out the whole situation and decide what we should do next.”
Yuu nodded, and then continued where he had left off. “Well, as soon as I realized that the desk was moving by itself, naturally I stepped back, getting as much distance as I could from it. I reached as far as my bed when the desk suddenly stopped rattling. Everything was silent afterward. I was beginning to think that I myself had caused the desk to rattle, or that there was a rat scuttling behind it. But then I heard footsteps. Something-something I couldn’t see-was walking… no, running, it sounded fast, really fast, and then… and then it pushed me.”
Kai could hear Hiroto gasp in shock. He himself felt troubled hearing Yuu’s story; it was starting to sound like they were dealing with a strong, undetectable creature that had enough power to make harsh physical contact with its victim, in this case, Yuu. But he kept his mouth shut and let Yuu continue.
“I fell onto the bed, too shocked to yell. It felt like a nightmare…” Yuu shivered momentarily. “But it was too real to be called a nightmare. There I was, sprawled on the bed, my back against the surface, and something… something was holding me down. It wouldn’t let me go no matter how hard I struggled. It was as if someone or something was sitting on top of me, straining my hands against the bed. Only no one was there, at least no one I could see.
“It had to be one of the most frightening moments in my life. I fought as hard as I could to free myself, but it was useless. Whatever it was, it was strong. It felt like… like that one scene I did in one of my movies where I was fighting someone almost twice my size. He was supposed to pretend slamming me down to the ground, but I guess he got a little carried away and did it too seriously. I hit the ground so hard I thought my body was paralyzed. Even more so when he straddled me and pinned me down with his hands; his weight alone was suffocating me, and worse than anything was the realization that, if it had been real, I could have been killed. I knew it was just acting, but it was really scary. I really, really thought I was going home with a broken rib or two that day.
“It’s a lame comparison, I know, but I just want to explain how helpless I felt tonight. Only this time the feeling was multiplied by a hundred because I couldn’t see what was I was fighting against. I couldn’t break free. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t scream for help. I thought I was really going to…”
Yuu stopped to take a breath. It was unnerving to see how hard it seemed just to convey what had happened. Kai could only imagine how terrifying it had been experiencing all that himself. If you were dealing with a visible, touchable creature, you could easily evade its attacks. But if it was invisible, you could never guess where your attacker was, so guessing what it intended to do would be nearly impossible, let alone counteracting it. That’s the most complicated part in facing something supernatural, and Kai supposed that’s one of the reasons why the institute existed in the first place: to help those who didn’t have the resources or abilities in taking care of supernatural entities or events that were caused by them.
At the moment he was secretly wishing he had gone to law school like his mother had advised him to. Being a lawyer seemed a lot easier than battling against ghosts and poltergeists.
Kai shook that thought away, and getting his focus back to his client, he saw that, right next to Yuu, his manager was giving him some support by patting his back. Yuu smiled at him gratefully. And seeming to be urged by the gesture, he then continued.
“I fought as hard as I could, trying to pull my arms free from that thing’s grip. I kicked around randomly. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel my legs colliding against something solid… It was really weird,” Yuu shook his head in confusion. “But it seemed to work. After a while, that thing, whatever it was, let me go. As soon as I was freed, the first thing I did was to flee from my room. I tried to calm myself a bit so that I could think clearly, and then I grabbed the phone and called you,” Yuu looked at Kai, “And afterward, I called Kazuki. I didn’t want to wait here all by myself until you arrived. Kazuki lived upstairs-two floors above us, actually-so it didn’t take him long to get here.”
Kai remembered Yuu telling him that Saga was also living in the same building, which made him wonder if the whole company actually lived here. Or perhaps, the entire building belonged to the company. He might find all the actors and actresses from the same company inhabiting every room in this apartment complex.
But that wasn’t his main concern for now. Kai proceeded with his questions regarding the attack.
“The disturbance, did it stop as soon as you stepped out of your room?”
Yuu pondered for a moment. “Yes, I think,” he said. “I didn’t notice anything. I’m not sure if it was because I was too shaken up, or I was too preoccupied calling you and Kazuki. But no, nothing particularly bizarre happened to me after I left my room.”
“How long did Kazuki take to reach here from his own apartment?”
“Not long, two, three minutes, maybe,” Yuu answered. “And we were on the phone the whole time until he showed up at my door.”
Kazuki nodded, adding up. “I told him not to hang up and keep talking. I didn’t even stop to grab some decent pants or even a pair of slippers. I just ran all the way here with my phone pressed to my ear.”
Kai looked at the manager and only then noticed that the man was wearing knee-length jerseys and tie-dyed oversized t-shirt. The tuft of messy bed hair on his head emphasized the careless appearance he was supporting. He did look like he had just jumped right out of his bed.
“How was Yuu-san’s condition when you arrived, Kazuki-san?” Kai asked the manager.
“Hmm…” Kazuki took a look at Yuu carefully. “He was in a state of shock, if I may say so. He was sitting here on this very sofa, trembling as if he’d been out in the cold for hours. And he couldn’t speak coherently. It took me a while to actually hear and understand what he had just experienced.”
“And nothing happened while you’re here with Yuu-san?”
Kazuki shook his head. “No, nothing.”
“I see,” Kai turned to his staff. “What do you think, Hiroto?”
Hiroto had one hand on his chin. His face was deep with thoughts, obviously contemplating about everything that he had heard.
“This is really unusual,” he said after a moment. Confusion was thick in his voice. “When I was here with the inspection team this morning, I really couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary except the stuffed doll that Ruki confiscated. We’ve gotten that doll cleansed, so I don’t understand why Yuu-san is still experiencing these disturbances.”
“Is it possible that something is tampering with your sight?”
Hiroto shrugged. “I was able to see everything else, even the weaker presences that were passing by,” he said. “But you’ve got a point. There is a possibility that we’re dealing with a creature that possesses the ability to conceal its aura.”
“That doesn’t sound very comforting,” Yuu said, staring at Hiroto.
Kai jumped in. “There are various possibilities, Yuu-san,” he said, making sure to keep his voice as calm as he could. “Astral Aura Detection is a very hazy subject, and we have limited resources in that matter…”
“Limited staff, you mean,” Ruki mumbled.
“Yes,” Kai eyed his assistant sharply. “Limited as they are, the staff members we have in the institute are highly qualified people who know exactly what they’re doing. Given enough time and support, I’m sure they will be able to find out what is currently haunting your residence.”
In the next half an hour, Hiroto and Ruki went to investigate in Yuu’s bedroom, where the incident tonight had taken place. Kai stayed in the living room with Yuu and Kazuki, trying to explain the various scenarios that he thought were possible regarding these disturbances that Yuu was experiencing. He was in the middle of telling the other two about one specific case he had worked on a few months ago, a case with an almost similar situation where his team failed to detect the source of the paranormal occurrence, when his staff members emerged from Yuu’s bedroom.
“That was fast,” Kai said. His staff members shook their heads, their faces looked perplexed.
“The room is clean,” Hiroto said. “Save for a couple of orbs passing by, but they are no threat.”
Ruki, to Kai’s surprise, said, “Maybe we should have brought Reita along tonight. He might have been able to detect some traces of… whatever it was that had been in that room.”
It was rather amusing to see the sour look on Ruki’s face when he said that, but Kai chose not to comment about it. Instead, he thought about what they should do now considering their latest situation. He knew that everyone was expecting him to make a decision, and by the look that Yuu and Kazuki were giving him, he knew he had to be tactical about it. He couldn’t just randomly make up some last minute plan, but he couldn’t take too long either. They all had had a long day, and even a perfectionist like Ruki could get tired too when being pushed to the limit.
Once everyone was seated again, Kai spoke up.
“Alright, for now I advise you to stay at someone else’s place, or get someone to accompany you if you still wish to stay in this apartment tonight. We can’t let you stay anywhere all by yourself.”
“I’m not planning to, Kai-san,” Yuu nodded, agreeing. “I’m going to stay at Kazuki’s apartment for the rest of the night.”
“Good,” Kai said. “I’m going to hold a meeting tomorrow with my staff. We have so many things to talk about, and more importantly, I will have to decide what we have to do next. There are some things that might need your opinion, though, so if you think you have the time to…”
Yuu appeared to be sorting out his schedule in his mind, and in the end, he looked at his manager. “Don’t we have a meeting at the company at eleven thirty?” Kazuki nodded to confirm, and then Yuu returned to Kai. “If it’s before eleven thirty I think I can attend. I’d like to know if I could be any help, too.”
They soon agreed on the meeting hour, which would be at nine a.m. the next morning. Kai thought there should be enough time before Yuu arrived to assemble his staff and give them a short briefing before they all began discussing their action plan. For the time being, it would be sufficient to make sure Yuu had someone to accompany him, in case something else occurred.
It was approximately fifteen minutes after midnight when Kai and his team finally left Yuu’s apartment. Along the dim and quiet corridor, the Head of the Department of Investigation and Recovery of PSC was wondering why he felt like he had missed something… something that seemed small, but crucial. He bit his lip in silence, digging around in his thought to no avail. Once they got out into the cold, dark night, the mysterious thought froze in his mind, and turned into a small chunk of ice that resided in his brain; annoying, but unreachable.
- TO BE CONTINUED -
A/N: Short chapter, I know, but we're getting more (spooky) actions! And new character too, Aoi's manager. Okay. Hopefully I can write the next chapter soon. Wish me luck ;D
Previous chapters: 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5
Fanfic list here.
Chapter: 06
Author: アキ
Fandom: the GazettE, SCREW, Alice Nine, more to come
Disclaimer: I don't own the guys. Just the story.
Pairings: AoixRuki, ByouxRui, probably more to come
Genre: AU, horror, supernatural
Rating: PG, for now
Warning: None
Beta: None
Summary:
"PSC, which stands for Paranormal Studies Center, is an institution whose main object is to investigate various paranormal and supernatural events. This is the Department of Investigation and Recovery, where all investigative tasks are being done. My name is Kai, and I am the head of this Department. Welcome. How may I help you?"
Chapter 6
For a second Kai thought he had knocked the wrong door, because the man who opened it was not Yuu. He was taller and leaner, and appeared to be a few years younger than Yuu. He had shoulder-length light brown hair, round eyes, and several piercings on his lower lip. He was smiling when he greeted Kai and his team, but there was anxiety written all over his face that his smile couldn’t hide.
“Hi,” he said. His voice was crisp and friendly. “Aoi is waiting inside. Come on in.”
The man opened the door wider for Kai, Ruki and Hiroto, and the three of them swiftly filed into the apartment. Kai took a look around; earlier today he had heard Ruki’s brief explanation of the place, and, just as Ruki had described it, it didn’t look very celebrity-ish. The interior was rather simple-cozy, but still quite down-to-earth considering the glamorous image that Aoi posed out there in the entertainment world. But he supposed everyone had their personal taste, and Aoi-or Yuu-turned out to be the kind of man who didn’t like anything too fancy in his life beyond the big screen.
Led by the stranger, Kai and his staff entered the living room, where apparently Yuu was sitting on a sofa. The actor noticed the group approaching him, and he stood up from his seat to greet them.
“Thank you for coming on such a short notice,” he said, shaking everyone’s hands. The stranger that had opened the door for Kai and his staff sidled up to him, smiling. “Oh, right, let me introduce you to my manager,” Yuu continued, patting the man next to him on the shoulder. “His name is Kazuki.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you guys,” Kazuki said while he and Kai shook hands. “Aoi told me a bit about the problem he’s been having lately. I’m glad he’s found some professionals to help him solve it.”
Kai nodded. “We’re doing what we can, Kazuki-san,” he said, and continued to introduce his staff to Yuu’s manager.
Yuu proceeded to ask them all to sit down in his living room. Kai and his staff members crammed in one long sofa, Yuu sitting in front of them. Kazuki went through the troubles of getting a crate of beer for all of them from the refrigerator. Kai looked at Hiroto warily, and just as he feared, he could see how gleeful the blonde man was when those cans of beer passed under his sight. Kai nudged him-hard-with his elbow, and gave him a stern glare which only meant one thing: one can, no more. It was already a tiresome day without having to deal with a drunk, even-more-hyper-than-usual Hiroto tonight. Thankfully Hiroto seemed to understand; with timid hands he reached forward toward his can, opened it, and sipped slowly as if he was cherishing every last drop he was permitted to drink.
“Alright, Yuu-san, the sooner we get to the point, the better,” Kai said. “I’d like you to tell me, in detail, please; what happened after Ruki left this place?”
For a split second, Kai could see Yuu shiver as if a gush of cold wind was passing by, but the room was warm. It must have been a severe experience, because Yuu looked terrified even now after it had passed. His manager was sitting beside him, as if trying to give the man some moral support.
“Well,” the actor began. “After Ruki-san left, I went to the office and spent the whole afternoon there, discussing some new projects I have to do starting next month. I didn’t come home until 9 p.m. after dinner, and then around 10 p.m. I took a bath, and was done probably half an hour later. That’s when it started, in my room.” He paused, turning his head slightly to the side, eyeing the door on his left. Kai could easily guess that that’s his bedroom.
“I felt unusually good after bath,” he continued. “For the first few minutes I was sorting out the stuff I brought home from the office-a bundle of script, interview materials, etcetera; my stereo playing something nice. Nothing was out of place, and I was just thinking, finally, finally, I was going to have a calm night. But the door suddenly creaked open. I quickly turned to see who was there, but of course there was no one. I was all alone in my apartment. I tried to convince myself that I hadn’t properly closed the door, and the wind simply blew it open. It was a sad, useless attempt, of course, because the windows were closed so there couldn’t have been wind blowing inside the apartment.
“I didn’t have time to catch my breath because, the next thing I knew, the desk right in front of me rattled. The sound was like… like something just bumped against it. At first I thought it was an earthquake, but very soon I realized that the floor wasn’t shaking, and nothing else in the room moved besides the desk. I could feel the familiar fear emerging, getting a grip on me, but I told myself it couldn’t be happening again. I mean, Ruki-san had removed the cursed item from this house, so I had no reason to worry that the… creature, or whatever it is, is still here; right?”
Ruki cleared his throat before Yuu continued. “There is a possibility that we have taken the wrong item,” he said, sounding embarrassed. “It will need a longer, more thorough observation to make sure that there isn’t any other threatening item in this place.”
“That’s right,” Kai added. “The time it takes for the inspection stage is never the same in every case we’ve handled. Sometimes we need two, three days to get to the bottom of the matter. Some severe cases might even take a whole month of initial observation before we can move on to the next stage. It really depends on the situation.”
Before they left the institute earlier, Kai had been worried that Yuu would be disappointed in their performance in duty. After all, he had given his client his word that they would do the job as quickly as they could. And the situation earlier today had made them all believe that everything had been going smoothly and the job would be completed very soon. It wasn’t the first time that Kai and his team were mistaken. But no matter how often he confronted the same predicament, it never got easy, especially when he came face to face with his clients.
But fortunately Yuu didn’t seem like he was going to complain. “I see,” he said. “So it is most likely that whatever is causing these happenings is still here in my apartment?”
“I can’t say for sure until we conduct a more thorough research,” Kai answered. “Without any certainty as to what is causing your problems, we might as well be groping around in the dark. I can refer to various analyses, give you some assessment about your situation based merely on speculations, but I know that is not a wise thing to do. The last thing I should do is jump into the wrong conclusion. But please, do continue with your story first, and then we will try to sort out the whole situation and decide what we should do next.”
Yuu nodded, and then continued where he had left off. “Well, as soon as I realized that the desk was moving by itself, naturally I stepped back, getting as much distance as I could from it. I reached as far as my bed when the desk suddenly stopped rattling. Everything was silent afterward. I was beginning to think that I myself had caused the desk to rattle, or that there was a rat scuttling behind it. But then I heard footsteps. Something-something I couldn’t see-was walking… no, running, it sounded fast, really fast, and then… and then it pushed me.”
Kai could hear Hiroto gasp in shock. He himself felt troubled hearing Yuu’s story; it was starting to sound like they were dealing with a strong, undetectable creature that had enough power to make harsh physical contact with its victim, in this case, Yuu. But he kept his mouth shut and let Yuu continue.
“I fell onto the bed, too shocked to yell. It felt like a nightmare…” Yuu shivered momentarily. “But it was too real to be called a nightmare. There I was, sprawled on the bed, my back against the surface, and something… something was holding me down. It wouldn’t let me go no matter how hard I struggled. It was as if someone or something was sitting on top of me, straining my hands against the bed. Only no one was there, at least no one I could see.
“It had to be one of the most frightening moments in my life. I fought as hard as I could to free myself, but it was useless. Whatever it was, it was strong. It felt like… like that one scene I did in one of my movies where I was fighting someone almost twice my size. He was supposed to pretend slamming me down to the ground, but I guess he got a little carried away and did it too seriously. I hit the ground so hard I thought my body was paralyzed. Even more so when he straddled me and pinned me down with his hands; his weight alone was suffocating me, and worse than anything was the realization that, if it had been real, I could have been killed. I knew it was just acting, but it was really scary. I really, really thought I was going home with a broken rib or two that day.
“It’s a lame comparison, I know, but I just want to explain how helpless I felt tonight. Only this time the feeling was multiplied by a hundred because I couldn’t see what was I was fighting against. I couldn’t break free. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t scream for help. I thought I was really going to…”
Yuu stopped to take a breath. It was unnerving to see how hard it seemed just to convey what had happened. Kai could only imagine how terrifying it had been experiencing all that himself. If you were dealing with a visible, touchable creature, you could easily evade its attacks. But if it was invisible, you could never guess where your attacker was, so guessing what it intended to do would be nearly impossible, let alone counteracting it. That’s the most complicated part in facing something supernatural, and Kai supposed that’s one of the reasons why the institute existed in the first place: to help those who didn’t have the resources or abilities in taking care of supernatural entities or events that were caused by them.
At the moment he was secretly wishing he had gone to law school like his mother had advised him to. Being a lawyer seemed a lot easier than battling against ghosts and poltergeists.
Kai shook that thought away, and getting his focus back to his client, he saw that, right next to Yuu, his manager was giving him some support by patting his back. Yuu smiled at him gratefully. And seeming to be urged by the gesture, he then continued.
“I fought as hard as I could, trying to pull my arms free from that thing’s grip. I kicked around randomly. I couldn’t see anything, but I could feel my legs colliding against something solid… It was really weird,” Yuu shook his head in confusion. “But it seemed to work. After a while, that thing, whatever it was, let me go. As soon as I was freed, the first thing I did was to flee from my room. I tried to calm myself a bit so that I could think clearly, and then I grabbed the phone and called you,” Yuu looked at Kai, “And afterward, I called Kazuki. I didn’t want to wait here all by myself until you arrived. Kazuki lived upstairs-two floors above us, actually-so it didn’t take him long to get here.”
Kai remembered Yuu telling him that Saga was also living in the same building, which made him wonder if the whole company actually lived here. Or perhaps, the entire building belonged to the company. He might find all the actors and actresses from the same company inhabiting every room in this apartment complex.
But that wasn’t his main concern for now. Kai proceeded with his questions regarding the attack.
“The disturbance, did it stop as soon as you stepped out of your room?”
Yuu pondered for a moment. “Yes, I think,” he said. “I didn’t notice anything. I’m not sure if it was because I was too shaken up, or I was too preoccupied calling you and Kazuki. But no, nothing particularly bizarre happened to me after I left my room.”
“How long did Kazuki take to reach here from his own apartment?”
“Not long, two, three minutes, maybe,” Yuu answered. “And we were on the phone the whole time until he showed up at my door.”
Kazuki nodded, adding up. “I told him not to hang up and keep talking. I didn’t even stop to grab some decent pants or even a pair of slippers. I just ran all the way here with my phone pressed to my ear.”
Kai looked at the manager and only then noticed that the man was wearing knee-length jerseys and tie-dyed oversized t-shirt. The tuft of messy bed hair on his head emphasized the careless appearance he was supporting. He did look like he had just jumped right out of his bed.
“How was Yuu-san’s condition when you arrived, Kazuki-san?” Kai asked the manager.
“Hmm…” Kazuki took a look at Yuu carefully. “He was in a state of shock, if I may say so. He was sitting here on this very sofa, trembling as if he’d been out in the cold for hours. And he couldn’t speak coherently. It took me a while to actually hear and understand what he had just experienced.”
“And nothing happened while you’re here with Yuu-san?”
Kazuki shook his head. “No, nothing.”
“I see,” Kai turned to his staff. “What do you think, Hiroto?”
Hiroto had one hand on his chin. His face was deep with thoughts, obviously contemplating about everything that he had heard.
“This is really unusual,” he said after a moment. Confusion was thick in his voice. “When I was here with the inspection team this morning, I really couldn’t see anything out of the ordinary except the stuffed doll that Ruki confiscated. We’ve gotten that doll cleansed, so I don’t understand why Yuu-san is still experiencing these disturbances.”
“Is it possible that something is tampering with your sight?”
Hiroto shrugged. “I was able to see everything else, even the weaker presences that were passing by,” he said. “But you’ve got a point. There is a possibility that we’re dealing with a creature that possesses the ability to conceal its aura.”
“That doesn’t sound very comforting,” Yuu said, staring at Hiroto.
Kai jumped in. “There are various possibilities, Yuu-san,” he said, making sure to keep his voice as calm as he could. “Astral Aura Detection is a very hazy subject, and we have limited resources in that matter…”
“Limited staff, you mean,” Ruki mumbled.
“Yes,” Kai eyed his assistant sharply. “Limited as they are, the staff members we have in the institute are highly qualified people who know exactly what they’re doing. Given enough time and support, I’m sure they will be able to find out what is currently haunting your residence.”
In the next half an hour, Hiroto and Ruki went to investigate in Yuu’s bedroom, where the incident tonight had taken place. Kai stayed in the living room with Yuu and Kazuki, trying to explain the various scenarios that he thought were possible regarding these disturbances that Yuu was experiencing. He was in the middle of telling the other two about one specific case he had worked on a few months ago, a case with an almost similar situation where his team failed to detect the source of the paranormal occurrence, when his staff members emerged from Yuu’s bedroom.
“That was fast,” Kai said. His staff members shook their heads, their faces looked perplexed.
“The room is clean,” Hiroto said. “Save for a couple of orbs passing by, but they are no threat.”
Ruki, to Kai’s surprise, said, “Maybe we should have brought Reita along tonight. He might have been able to detect some traces of… whatever it was that had been in that room.”
It was rather amusing to see the sour look on Ruki’s face when he said that, but Kai chose not to comment about it. Instead, he thought about what they should do now considering their latest situation. He knew that everyone was expecting him to make a decision, and by the look that Yuu and Kazuki were giving him, he knew he had to be tactical about it. He couldn’t just randomly make up some last minute plan, but he couldn’t take too long either. They all had had a long day, and even a perfectionist like Ruki could get tired too when being pushed to the limit.
Once everyone was seated again, Kai spoke up.
“Alright, for now I advise you to stay at someone else’s place, or get someone to accompany you if you still wish to stay in this apartment tonight. We can’t let you stay anywhere all by yourself.”
“I’m not planning to, Kai-san,” Yuu nodded, agreeing. “I’m going to stay at Kazuki’s apartment for the rest of the night.”
“Good,” Kai said. “I’m going to hold a meeting tomorrow with my staff. We have so many things to talk about, and more importantly, I will have to decide what we have to do next. There are some things that might need your opinion, though, so if you think you have the time to…”
Yuu appeared to be sorting out his schedule in his mind, and in the end, he looked at his manager. “Don’t we have a meeting at the company at eleven thirty?” Kazuki nodded to confirm, and then Yuu returned to Kai. “If it’s before eleven thirty I think I can attend. I’d like to know if I could be any help, too.”
They soon agreed on the meeting hour, which would be at nine a.m. the next morning. Kai thought there should be enough time before Yuu arrived to assemble his staff and give them a short briefing before they all began discussing their action plan. For the time being, it would be sufficient to make sure Yuu had someone to accompany him, in case something else occurred.
It was approximately fifteen minutes after midnight when Kai and his team finally left Yuu’s apartment. Along the dim and quiet corridor, the Head of the Department of Investigation and Recovery of PSC was wondering why he felt like he had missed something… something that seemed small, but crucial. He bit his lip in silence, digging around in his thought to no avail. Once they got out into the cold, dark night, the mysterious thought froze in his mind, and turned into a small chunk of ice that resided in his brain; annoying, but unreachable.
- TO BE CONTINUED -
A/N: Short chapter, I know, but we're getting more (spooky) actions! And new character too, Aoi's manager. Okay. Hopefully I can write the next chapter soon. Wish me luck ;D
Previous chapters: 1 ; 2 ; 3 ; 4 ; 5
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