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It was a dark and stormy night. The kind where the wind howled and thunder rumbled. Punctuated by intermittent flashes of lightening that crashed through the darkness in sporadic bursts, lasting just long enough to give one a tantalizing glimpse of the things that might be lurking out of sight in the dark. All while the rain rushed endlessly down from the sky.
In essence, it was the kind of night that ghost stories were made of.
Yasuhara managed to withhold his amusement at the irony of the situation. Mostly.
Drawing his attention away from the theatrics of the night sky, he brought his focus to bare on his companions. Listening to them speak as he concentrated on the specifics of the case he'd been invited to take part of along with the other, more regular members of the SPR.
From what he could gather, it appeared to Yasuhara that Naru had taken to the deteriorating weather with a rare gusto. In fact, the ghost hunter seemed almost pleased with the current turn of events. And, it showed in the way that he lectured Mai, with just a hint of an eager gleam to his eyes, before proceeding to stuff her brain mercilessly with the latest bits of information that he wanted to ensure she memorize.
"Spirits subside on energy." Naru recited firmly, glancing sparingly over Lin's shoulder at the rack of video feeds before turning back to look at the girl. "They can't simply act on their own. It takes energy for them to do things.”
There was a particularly loud crash of thunder and he paused, waiting just long enough to ensure that it was over before continuing on.
“In the case of a thunderstorm, the air will hold a natural charge to it. This makes it easier for spirits who are weaker to manifest themselves: And it provides stronger entities with additional power to fuel their actions.”
So,” Mai hesitated, working her thoughts out silently in her own mind before continuing softly, glancing up at the senior ghost hunter for approval. “So it's the same reason why things like batteries will suddenly drain sometimes when there's a ghost? Because they need the energy to do things?”
“I'd liken it more spirits drawing the thermal energy out of the air to manifest; but yes, you're close enough.” He allowed grudgingly.
“Meaning that the spirits tonight may be particularly feisty due to the storm.” Yasuhara concluded sweeping his gaze over the Base's set up before beaming cheerfully. “Which is why you decided to call me for this evening, correct?”
Pulling his attention away from Mai, Naru looked appraisingly at Yasuhara.
“If that makes you uncomfortable. Then please,” he gestured pointedly towards the door. “Do feel free to leave at anytime.”
“Not at all. Sounds thrilling.” Casually waving away the unspoken accusation, Yasuhara laughed lightly. His grin widened. “Besides, I'm sure Takigawa-san and the others will have a far worse time of it if they're to be exorcising any of the spirits we come upon.”
“In the mean time, I want the two of you to begin reviewing the reports of hauntings for the building.” Content that the issue had been attended to, Naru nodded once, all business, and turned back to the video screens. Arms crossing over his chest as he watched the feeds for any anomalies. “As soon as the two teams return to Base we'll decide if any secondary equipment should be set out.”
Mai grumbled at Naru's rudeness, and shot Yasuhara a small apologetic look for her boss' behaviour.
“It is nice that you could come.” She told him with a pleasant smile. “I was worried you'd be too busy with schoolwork to come.”
“Nonsense, what's a an essay or two between friends? More importantly though...”
Yasuhara trailed off, one hand moving to stroke his chin thoughtfully as he studied Mai from behind his spectacles.
“...are you sure it was alright for you to come this evening, Taniyama-san? You're looking a bit pale.”
“Wha- No!” Eyes widening in surprise, Mai quickly moved to wave off his concern. Then stopped. Flinching visibly as she noticed both Naru and Lin had shifted slightly in place to watch her reaction with mild interest. “It's nothing like that. It's just...”
She finished in a quick, almost incoherent mumble that had Yasuhara blinking in surprise.
“Pardon? I don't believe I quite got-”
Cut off by the insistent rumble of the thunderstorm over head, he momentarily held his tongue and waited for it to pass. Hands clasped politely behind his back, he rocked back on his heels and watched silently as Mai shifted uncomfortably in place.
He tilted his head curiously, eyes widening slightly in realization.
“Taniyama-san.” Speaking up again, once it had quieted down, he gave the girl a look. “Perhaps... are you afraid of thunder?”
Mai stiffened, quickly beginning to shake her head in denial only to realize that she still had the undivided attention of the rest of the room. Her shoulders sagged slightly at being found out.
“It's not that I'm afraid of it, really... I just don't particularly like it.”
Naru arched a brow condescendingly at her from his place at the monitors. “It's only the transfer of-”
“I don't need the scientific explanation, thank you.” She crossed her arms, tipping her nose up stubbornly. “Just because you know there's a reasonably explanation for something, it doesn't mean that you can't dislike it anyway.”
“Just don't let it affect your performance.”
Scowling Mai opened her mouth to make what would no doubt be a scathing retort only to be interrupted by the flash of lightening following in the wake of the thunderclap.
“In any case, there's been a lot less time between the last couple of strikes.” Yasuhara remarked, aiming a reassuring smile towards her. “So, it probably won't take too long for the storm to finish passing over us and continue on its way.”
“Oh,” she looked slightly relieved. “That's good to know-”
“Naru.” Speaking up sharply from where he'd been sitting, engrossed in newest set of data flowing into his laptop, Lin glanced up. A quick combination of keystrokes sent the monitors rotating through different incoming feeds.
Snapping to attention, the group moved to observe the monitors.
Only.
Yasuhara froze in place as thunder crashed violently overhead, setting the windows rattling and the building shivering around them under the force of it. And, just as it appeared that the worst was over, he heard an all too distinctive pop as the power switched off, plunging the room into a darkness that was lit only by the sickly pale light from Lin's laptop as it switched over to battery power.
Mai gave a soft, breathy gasp.
“Flashlights. It's just a power outage.” Naru ordered firmly. “Mai.”
“Yes?” She shook herself, straightening automatically at the sound of his voice.
“Get on the radio. Tell the others to return to Base.” He told her. “They might not have noticed the outage since they're working in the dark anyway.”
“Right.” Nodding, she took a cautious step in the dark towards the table they'd left the walkie talkies on.
Naru picked up a flashlight himself, switching it on resolutely.
“I'll go check the breakers. This building is old enough that they're going to need to be reset if we're to have the lights work once the power comes back.”
“Naru!” Lin moved up from his seat.
“It's not that far,” Naru said evenly, exchanging a brief speaking look with the older man. “I can do it on my own. We can't leave the Base unoccupied.”
“That's not-”
“...do you even know how to reset a circuit breaker?”
The softly spoken inquiry had both men turning to look at Mai. Naru gave the girl a withering look and she shrunk slightly before bristling defensively.
“It's a legitimate question!”
“I know how.” Speaking up from his position on the other side of the now darkened display, Yasuhara pointed to himself, offering. “I don't mind coming along.”
Naru looked at him consideringly before passing over a second flashlight. “Very well. Let's go.”
“Alright.” Accepting the flashlight, Yasuhara nodded in agreement
“But...”
“We won't take long.” Seeing that there was to be protest, Naru turned briefly around to dictate. His gaze slid over to Mai specifically, reminding her. “Radio.”
“I wasn't forgetting!” Her annoyed hiss of frustration followed them out into the hall as the pair left the room.
Closing the door behind them, the hallway was darker still. No windows. No faint gleam of electronics. Nothing. And, dodging bits of furniture in the dark, Yasuhara quickly found himself thankful for the fact that Naru was so prudent in ensuring that the teams flashlights were regularly checked for battery life.
“Some weather we're having, isn't it?” Yasuhara lasted the short walk down the hall and around the corner before finally breaking the silence. Keeping his flashlight focused firmly in front of him, he eyed the younger man curiously.
“Indeed.”
“I hadn't heard that bit about spirits being able to draw energy from the things around them before.” He continued casually. “I guess I still have a lot to learn.”
“I'm not expecting you to understand everything overnight.” Naru said flatly, his voice echoed faintly against the barren walls as they moved. “Just try to keep up.
“Well, I always have tried to be something of a model student.” Joking lightly, Yasuhara swung his flashlight further along the hall, moving the small spot of light up to point out one of the building's emergency lighting systems that hung uselessly dark against the wall.
As if its batteries had been unnaturally drained.
Naru stiffened in realization as Yasuhara shook his head wryly.
“Of course.” Silently, noting the way his breath had slowly began to mist in the rapidly cooling air that surrounding them, Yasuhara squared his shoulders, speaking softly so as to not drown out the faint sound of shuffling, unseen footsteps behind them. “For now, I suppose I'll have to just make due with the powers of observation.”