Huzza! I have finished this in record time XD it only took me three days to write it! *cough, cough* anyway, i hope you enjoy it so please review ^^ and check out my profile for a poll I put up about a new story

I sat at a bar stool, the ice clinking against my cup as I swirled the liquid in a circle. Tomorrow is the anniversary of the day I was left at the orphanage. Evidently, today couldn't be a more perfect night to go drinking. I sighed again, just as my phone vibrated in my pocket. It was John.

"M'ello…"

"Xavier? Why's it so loud? I can barely hear you!"

"Hold on."

I stood, shakily due to the alcohol, paid the bar tender and left. The air wasn't much better outside than inside since it was heading towards summer, but that didn't matter at the moment.

"What'd ya need, John?"

"Oh, well…There's a case and I'm out of town so I was hoping you would go."

"John…You know what tomorrow is…"

"Xavier, did you go drinking again?"

"…"

"I thought I told you not to do that anymore!"

I rolled my eyes, causing myself to stumble into someone in front of me. Mumbling out an apology, I was yanked backwards and shoved into a wall. Apparently, the man I bumped into didn't think my apology was satisfactory.

"Sorry John, I'll head over there tomorrow if it'll make you happy, but I have to go."

"You think you can just bump into me and get away with that wimpy ass apology?"

"Xavier? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. Later, John."

I quickly hung up the phone, stuffing it in my pocket so I could take care of this guy. I was drunker than I expected and he had managed to get a good hit to my face before I could react. Quickly disabling him, I left him leaning against the wall in an alleyway and hailed a taxi home. Tomorrow was going to be crap.

I couldn't have been more right. I had woken up with a major hangover the next morning and there was also a large nasty looking bruise on the side of my face, making it extremely hard to speak without causing pain. Lin had sent me the address of the estate we were going to be at earlier and I had once again called a taxi. I was a bit late, I realized when I finally set foot on the estate and spotted SPR's classic black van outside.

I headed towards the door, almost immediately feeling a sense of unease. For some reason though, I couldn't pin point the feeling as it appeared to be…muddled. Rubbing my temples, I rang the doorbell and was greeted by a young man probably around the same age as me.

"Y-Yes, can I help you?"

"I'm with the Shibuya Psychic Research group. Although, it seems like I'm a bit late."

"Oh! Well, come in. I just showed them where they were staying."

I nodded, stopping quickly when my headache flared, and followed the guy to a large Japanese style room where Mai and the others were wandering around adoring the scenery.

"Woah!"

"This is the room that overlooks the cove."

"This is definitely where ghosts could peek inside."

"You worry too much, Mai."

Everyone turned around, excited; Mai tackling me in a hug with a smile until she saw my face.

"Xavier, what happened to your face?"

I cringed at Mai's shout as Monk came up and grabbed my chin, turning my face from side to side.

"Woah. That's a real shiner. How'd you get this one?"

"Bumped into someone heading home last night."

"Hehe, what were you doing? Drinking down your sorrows at a bar?"

"Something like that."

I trailed off and went to stand over by Lin just as Mai and Ayako started fighting about their age. It wasn't long, before we were all sent to set up the equipment and right after that it was time to eat.

The table was full of people I didn't recognize, but I could always ask Mai. She appeared to be happy about something and I could bet five bucks it was because she remembered everyone's names.

"Shibuya, would you like sake?"

"No. Neither Lin nor I drink."

"Takigawa, Matsuzaki? How about you?"

"Thank you."

"And you…um…"

"Xavier Freimont, and sure. I'll take some."

They poured me a glass while the others stared in shock at me. They must not have known that I was of age. They were even more shocked though when they noticed that Lin didn't have any meat on his plate.

"Huh? Lin, you don't eat meat? At all? Are you a vegetarian?"

"Yes. During investigations, I refrain from meat to purify myself."

"Oh my. A medium's life is a harsh one."

Monk and Ayako looked a bit frazzled at that comment, but I could care less and continued to drink, which is a horrible idea seeing how I already have a hangover. Luckily, I was stopped before I could get too drunk when we were sent back to the base to get started.

"Are you planning to start monitoring tonight?"

Ugh, this is why I didn't want to come today John. I thought, sitting in a corner with a half empty cup of sake. I swear, even that older serving lady knew I have something else on my mind…She gave me the rest of the sake. Putting the drink up to my lips, I realized I was all out and frowned before glancing up to find Monk giving me a weird look.

"Um, I think you should lay off the sake."

He took the cup away from me quickly, like I was going to attack him the moment he touched it and I admit, I was considering it. He looked like he was going to bug me about what was wrong, but I was saved by Akifumi walking in with tea. Mai seemed happy enough about that and soon she was talking about the dinner with him, but something he said managed to catch my drunken attention.

"This was the first time I saw that odd expression on Eijirou."

"So you've never seen him look that way before? And the same goes for Kazuyasu?"

Seems I wasn't the only one interested in this new information and Naru continued to discuss the changes in everyone's personality. In total, about six people had drastic personality changes that started after the grandfather's funeral; the children being the worst. I thought it was odd, but I had a gut feeling that it wasn't the grandfather's funeral that started this.

"Xavier."

"Huh?…What do you want Naru? And where is everyone?"

"They left…I've been calling you for a while. What were you thinking about?"

"Just…possibilities. I have a feeling that the grandfather's death isn't the exact reason why all this is happening."

"I don't think that's everything, Xavier. Is there something else you want to tell me?"

I glanced in his direction and spotted him placing my empty sake cup back on the table. Turning back to the window, I mumbled out an answer.

"It's just a bad day for me is all."

"Have you spoken to Yasuhara about it?"

I was a bit surprised he would ask about Yasu, and blushed a bit.

"No…We haven't really been seeing each other lately; what with school and all. Then top that off with work and this and we don't exactly have much time to ourselves. John knows though, and he was the only reason I'm even here now or else I'd be at home drinking the day away…"

I waved it off and Naru was smart enough to take a hint, walking back toward Lin who'd probably been listening in as well. I'd just rested my head against the cool wall when a sudden yell echoed from somewhere down the hall.

"Lin, Xavier."

Lin immediately got up and I followed, my vision spinning slightly before settling. Naru gave me a look, but soon we were heading down the hall to the main room where the scream originated. Opening the door, we were greeted with quite the sight. Eijirou was growling as he struggled against the two men that kept him from attacking anyone with the large butcher knife he held in one hand. The pure unadulterated evil that emanated from him had my head aching ferociously, pulling with it something I hadn't felt in a long time; blood lust.

"Lin."

The voice barely registered, but it was enough to knock some sense into me and I forced the feeling back down. Falling to my knees, I tried to catch my breath as Lin tied up Eijirou. The feeling of someone watching me caused me to look up and spot Naru watching me with narrowed eyes.

"Go back to the base. Be prepared to explain later."

Nodding slightly I got up and made my way down the hall, stumbling a bit from my drunkenness. On my way to the room though, I spotted two huddled figures whispering to each other. Getting closer, I realized it was the other two children that were mentioned earlier and they quickly noticed me.

"Heheh. You feel it don't you?"

"She has to feel it, but she's holding it back."

I realized what they were talking about and my eyes widened as I took a cautious step back. The two started giggling to each other and whispering again, but I had enough and walked around them trying to control the rising headache.

This isn't good. This feeling is the same as when I lost control years ago. What could possibly be causing it?

I don't know when I got into the base or how long I'd been there, but Naru and Lin were back looking serious. Lin began preparing for something and Naru soon came over to me.

"Ayako is going to exorcise the spirit possessing Eijirou unless you are capable of doing it."

"Y-You want me to do it?"

"I assume you've done exorcisms before with John…At least that's the impression he gave me."

"Well I can, but…something's wrong."

He gave me this look, gesturing me to continue and I wrung my hands together, somewhat nervous after what happened with the kids earlier.

"Before, with Eijirou, I lost it for a minute. I was almost overcome with a murderous feeling and I met up with two kids in the hall whispering about that feeling that I had…Laughing about it…Whatever is in Eijirou, it's bad. Enough to get Andras riled up."

Naru looked away for a moment with a hand on his chin in thought before he finally turned back to me.

"I'll have Ayako do the exorcism for now. What you said has me somewhat concerned though, and I wish for you to be there for back up in case something goes array."

Pulling a hand through my hair I nodded and followed them to the room where they had Eijirou for the exorcism. I was still slightly shaken, but Naru mentioned that he called John and Masako and that they'd be here in the morning so I was calming down somewhat. That is, until the exorcism started.

"I reverently offer my spirit. Miyashiro, the aura enshrined here…the countless many who have taken roost here. Be at ease, be at peace, hear my request…"

The negative energy in the room rose and soon the spirit in Eijirou showed itself. Naru pushed Mai back as the spirit took the form of a large shadow fox. He then had Lin begin taking Mai out and I was frozen in place as I stared down the spirit. It stared evenly back and began laughing tauntingly at me, like it was amused. Suddenly, it stopped and stared over at Lin, Mai, and Monk before it set its eyes on Naru and I. Raising my arm to absorb the spirit a voice shouted out, distracting me.

"Xavier! Naru! Don't do it!"

I turned my head towards Lin before something shoved me aside, the fox spirit traveling through my arm before completely disappearing into Naru, who crashed into the wall. Pain, more intense than I could imagine, traveled up my arm in a tidal wave as Naru slumped to the ground with a cough. Biting my lip against the pain, I gripped my arm while trying desperately not to scream out. In the background, I heard everyone asking Naru if he was okay.

"I'm fine. How's Eijirou…and Xavier?"

I managed a slight smile at being remembered, noticing that Eijirou didn't have a clue about what happened since he was possessed. A hand waved in front of my face and I followed it up to find Monk looking concerned.

"-ey, you o-y?"

I could only make out part of what he said, but I understood and smiled painfully, having forgotten about the bruise on my face from yesterday. Helping me up, he half dragged me back to base where I took a seat across from where Naru sat with his head in his hands. I kept my eye on him, feeling the negative energy fighting within him, causing the pain in my arm to flare along with it.

Mai soon came over concerned at both of our pained faces and Naru stood, deciding to try and sleep it off. I simply stayed put, to tired to move especially since the alcohol was beginning to kick in.

"She completely butchered that exorcism. Does she think she lived up to her role? It's kind of weird how she calls herself a miko. Would a proper miko tremble during an exorcism?"

I couldn't help but tune into the conversation.

"She's a 'self-claimed miko' to the very end. I'd bet anything she's just a medium wearing the clothes of a miko."

Just then, the pain flared and I let out a gasp, alerting Mai, Monk, and Lin.

"Xavier, what's wrong?"

"T-The spirit…Stop Naru!"

I pointed to the monitors and Monk quickly saw the problem and ran out with Lin, Mai glancing back and forth between me and the door.

"Go Mai…I'll be okay."

She debated with herself for only a moment before running out and joining them. My vision spun all of a sudden as a voice spoke up within me.

"You managed to keep me from killing that miko, you know. If you weren't pulled out of the way, I would've gotten you instead. But even now, you managed to get a part of me and you made it nearly impossible to completely control that boy…If you're not careful though…heheheh, let's just say luck may be on my side yet."

It wasn't Andras. I knew that much and the voice sent tingles down my arm, making it feel like it wasn't mine anymore. Staring down at it, I flexed my fingers while ignoring the pain that traveled up my arm. The movement was jerky, like it was only halfway responding and when I rolled up my short sleeve, I growled lowly; a grey color covering most of my shoulder and appeared to be slowly spreading.

This isn't good. Whatever this spirit is, it's doing a pretty good job of breaking the seals. We need to finish this up soon, or Naru's not going to be the only potential danger.

"Um, are you okay Xavier?"

I snapped out of whatever reverie I was in and just barely noticed John as he put his hand on my forehead.

"You're not sick again, are you?"

"No…When did you get here, John?"

"I-I've been here for a few hours now, don't you remember? You even waved to me on the way in."

I thought back and couldn't quite remember when I did that, but lied to keep John from worrying.

"Right. Sorry. I'm still hung-over."

He nodded slowly and held his hand out to me.

"Come on. Akifumi wants to show us the steps that Mai saw in her dream last night. I'll tell you about it on the way since you were lost in thought."

On the way outside, John explained to me about Mai's dream about the steps etched into the side of the cliff leading to a cave that held a shrine of some sort. Also, about how the spirits seemed drawn into the cave from the sea, some of them looking like fish. He then explained to me that people who died nearby in the sea and large objects would wash up there, including the family's dog.

Sure enough, Akifumi lead us towards the cliff side, pointing out the stone steps across the way. He mentioned something about them being old and Mai and Monk used this to dig up some more information.

"Do you know when the main house was built?"

"Well, that would be…the oldest member in our family cemetery was born in the ansei era, so before then. Would you like me to ask my grandmother?"

"Please do."

"By the way, when you say 'ansei era', what year was that?"

"Ansei ear is the years from late 1854 to early 1860. So it would be during the Edo period. Haven't any of you been to high school?"

I rolled my eyes towards the group as Mai yelled about her school still learning about the Genji and Heike war. Masako was also in the same place, but I couldn't see why John and Monk didn't answer. Monk easily avoided me, heading back to talk to Akifumi, and John just shyly chuckled.

"Sorry Xavier. I wasn't very good at history."

"It's fine. Monk didn't answer either."

He sweat dropped as we followed Akifumi to the other side of the cliff to see if we could spot the cove. Looking around, I listened to the stories behind a set of rocks that were out in the ocean nearby.

"It's said that a man and a woman leapt into the sea from here."

He continued on with a story about two lovers who were being pulled apart by a noble's greed. The couple planned to elope to get away from the man, but he intercepted their messages and the princess's lover killed the noble, thinking he was betrayed. The couple soon realized what had happened but it was too late and they jumped into the ocean; the gods transforming them into the two rocks to ensure they would never be separated again. It was a nice story in all, but I still had a feeling it didn't have much to do with what was happening. John yelled out to me, and I realized that they were heading somewhere without me. Jerks.

We reached a small shrine that Akifumi said was being taken care of by the family, but what caught my immediate attention, were the three stones nearby. The moment I set my eyes on them, I felt a sharp twinge of pain travel up my arm. I had gotten used to the aches that it had been constantly giving out, but this was a bit much. Gritting my teeth, I struggled to keep from crying out at the pulses of pain that grew more intense as I stepped closer to the mounds. Reaching out, I touched a stone and a voice immediately flooded my senses along with even more pain.

"You must help us! We are being used by a great power that continues to pull us back here!…In the cove! Hurry!"

I was suddenly pulled away from the mounds, Monk and John hovering over me as I cried out slightly due to the pain. They were talking to me, but I couldn't focus on the words through the pain and soon, I felt someone lifting me up. Cracking an eye open, all I saw was a head of blonde and blue eyes looking at me in concern before everything went black.

Everyone returned to the base soon after what happened to Xavier and, at the moment, they were conversing about the possibilities of multiple spirits. Monk had naturally taken charge and he was growing more and more concerned about what was going on within the estate.

"We must watch over all of the family members. There isn't just one spirit, but potentially three or more. John."

John quickly glanced up from his place next to Xavier, who had been placed on the floor nearby.

"Yes?"

"What did you think of what we saw earlier, near Hazuki?"

"Well, personally, I couldn't figure it out…but Hara might have an idea, because there's a possibility that this is a malicious curse. I've already performed a temporary, simple exorcism and sealed the room."

"The result?"

"I-I don't know."

John sadly turned back to Xavier, trailing his hand through her hair slowly while Monk continued.

"Masako. Do you know what the spirit is?"

"I do not. I just get the same feeling as the spirit possessing Naru. If I had to say, it's an empty spirit. If there were no resentment, I would not sense this grudge."

She slowly turned her head towards Xavier and her face fell.

"Xavier has also been in contact with one of these spirits. Her right arm has the same feeling as Naru. It's possible she may have taken in some of the possessing spirit as well."

John heard this and reached over quickly, pulling Xavier's arm out from under the blanket of the futon and rolling up her sleeve. He was uneasy earlier when he noticed her wearing a dark sweater in the middle of summer, despite how thin she said it was. He sucked in a breath in shock, now knowing that he had a right to be worried. The skin from her shoulder down to her elbow was a light shade of grey and no one had noticed apparently, due to the shocked faces as Mai and even Lin came over to her side.

"W-Why didn't she tell us about this? It was obviously causing her pain!"

Lin lifted up her arm and began to examine it as John spoke.

"I'm sure she had a reason…It could be because she felt it was her problem or…"

"Or she doesn't trust us."

Mai turned to Monk shocked before looking back at John who nodded his head looking depressed. Lin placed Xavier's arm back down on top of the covers and returned to his seat.

"I cannot do anything about her arm unfortunately, because I do not know what my seals may do to her with her already holding a demon. The only thing to do would be to keep an eye on her. She has kept control of herself so far, but there is still a chance she may end up in a similar situation as Naru."

The room fell silent at Lin's words and Monk took over again with a sigh.

"Mai, have you felt anything?"

"Me? Um…This might conflict a bit with Masako's opinion, but I think there are dead people harboring a grudge. People who were brutally betrayed, surrounded by enemies, and killed. At this point, they…probably no longer have a connection with this land."

She fiddled with her hands, nervously as Masako brought a sleeve up to her mouth.

"If it is that sort of spirit, I would have recognized it already."

"R-Right. It was probably just a dream."

"It was just a dream."

Mai gulped and Monk turned his attention to Akifumi again.

"What do you think? Have you ever heard anything like that?"

"No. I've never heard that story, sorry."

"Well then, do we know around when the Yoshimi family moved here?"

"I asked that, among other questions, and my grandmother didn't know."

Scratching his head, Monk closed his eyes while trying to collect his thoughts on what to do next. It wasn't long before he asked John to return to the hospital for an exorcism and for Ayako and Mai to hand out charms to the family. Giving Xavier one final look, everyone headed out to do what was asked, leaving her under Lin's protection.

"Yasuhara?"

"Oh, hello, Taniyama."

He smiled brightly, but Mai could tell it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"I knew the person Monk was talking to on the phone was you. You just came? Wasn't it difficult?"

"It was really, really difficult. I flew in from Okinawa."

They continued to talk for a bit when Monk came over and asked him to investigate around the time of the ansei era.

"Ansei era? I'm surprised you know when that was, Monk. You don't seem like the history kind of person."

"Actually, Xavier told us when it was…"

He kind of trailed off and glanced over to where she was, as he rubbed the back of his neck. Yasuhara smirked maliciously and grabbed a hold of his shoulder harshly.

"I see, but we're going to talk about this later, Monk."

He let go, while Monk shrunk back towards Mai looking scared. Walking over to Xavier, Yasuhara knelt down and brushed her hair back, kissing her once on the lips.

"I'll be back, so you better be up by then, sleeping beauty."

He noticed her face scrunch up slightly and chuckled.

"Seems you're not too fond of that, so I'll be sure to remember that for later. Revenge for not being awake to see me."

Getting up to leave, he stopped in the doorway when Mai called out.

"You really love her, don't you?"

"Of course. She may not be social or completely trusting, but she'll come around and I'll always love her for being who she is even when she isn't."

Mai looked completely confused, to which Yasuhara just smiled and left, a hand brushing the cross that he kept around his neck.

After Yasuhara left, Monk, John, and Lin sat around the monitors listening to what sounded like roaring. Mai and Ayako came in from their lunch break and almost immediately covered their ears to the offensive sound.

"What is that? What's making that sound?"

"I don't know. When we checked last night's data, it was in there."

"It's like a sleeping dinosaur…"

The others agreed, but a shrill sound cut them off. There was a fire in the main building and soon everyone was rushing over there to help. Luckily, the children were already outside and everyone else who was in the room had already escaped via the window. Suddenly, Lin turned his head around to something only he could hear and began running back to the other building. He told Mai to stay and help with the fire, but she knew something was wrong with Naru and quickly followed after him.

"Lin!"

A growl reached her ears as she spotted Kazuyasu wielding a large knife as he tried to break down the doors the Naru was behind. Looking around, Mai also noticed Xavier in her futon nearby and worried that she too was in danger.

"Stop it. If you open that door, you'll die."

Lin warned the possessed man, but he just growled louder and returned to the door.

"Taniyama, could you try the nine words?"

"B-But I was told I can't do it!"

"If I do it, he might get badly hurt. That kekkai won't hold much longer. If Naru wakes up, it's all over."

Mai debated on what to do and just as the man was about to get through the doors, she hesitated and Lin whistled. A large demonic had reached out from behind the doors and went to slash at Kazuyasu, but hit someone else across the arm as that person spun around and kicked Kazuyasu hard across the side of the head, launching him against the wall nearby. Standing up straight, Xavier glanced down at her now bleeding arm and spoke with a slightly distorted voice.

"Che, never liked familiars. Any unintelligent spirit who gets leashed like that is worthless."

"X-Xavier?"

Xavier turned and smiled wryly at Mai before suddenly being tackled by Kazuyasu, twisting in such a way as to toss him up in the air towards the window where he ran off. Lin glared once at Xavier before running out, yelling for Mai to get Monk and send someone to the base. Xavier stood and had her head turned towards the window, when Mai noticed Xavier's eyes had changed to a bright electric blue instead of their usual dull blue.

"You're not Xavier, a-are you?"

Turning back around, Mai took a step back upon seeing the sharp canines in Xavier's smirk.

"Not quite. I am simply borrowing her for a moment to assist in your little…pest problem. Small fry like these need to know who not to mess with."

"Then…who are you?"

"Ah, where are my manners." Xavier bowed deeply, a hand over her heart as she lifted up her head with another smirk. "I am Andras, at your service. Now I suggest you do as the Chinese onmyouji said, before things get out of hand."

She nodded and ran off as Andras laughed deeply, jumping out the window to follow Lin and Kazuyasu. You have made quite remarkable friends, child. Truly worthy of your friendship it seems.

Mai soon gathered everyone and they met up with Lin who informed them that Kazuyasu could use kamaitachi, an attack that utilizes the wind as blades. Mai just reached the gate, noticing that Andras was nowhere to be found, when she suddenly felt as though she was falling. Hitting the ground, Mai realized it was the spirit possessing Kazuyasu who had killed Nao as well as the animals in the house.

"Kazuyasu…You did it. You're the one who pushed Nao. You also killed the birds and the dogs, and sabotaged the car. It was all you, wasn't it?"

Mai broke down and Monk stepped up, prepared to stop Kazuyasu should he need to. He was sliced across his arm, but Monk persisted.

"Who are you? Why do you want to awaken Naru? What is your purpose?"

"Death."

The possessed man jumped up and headed straight towards the cliff, a single hand reaching out to grab the man, only to grasp a handful of nothing. Andras sighed and stood, brushing off Xavier's pants and heading back towards the group with a slight scowl, as Mai cried.

"I was a bit late, it seems."

"This is horrible. Why did this happen? What did we come here for?"

"This was…okay like this."

"Akifumi! When did you-"

"At least he will never know what he did."

Akifumi turned around and left, looking quite sullen when Andras spoke.

"Hm, smart…for a human."

Everyone gave her a questioning glance and Mai suggested they go back to the base for an explanation. Once there, Mai handed out tea to everyone and bandaged Andras's arm as they returned from changing out of their smokey and torn clothes; Monk being the first to speak.

"So Xavier, what's with the pompous attitude?"

"For a monk, you aren't very intelligent. Even the half psychic girl was able to figure it out within a few minutes."

Andras took a sip of his tea calmly while Monk raged and the others chuckled amused. John, on the other hand, had narrowed eyes as he took in the figure sitting regally in front of him. Andras smiled devilishly at him, eyes flashing momentarily.

"Is there something you wish to say, priest? Being her friend for so long, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned anything yet."

"You're Andras…aren't you…"

"The one and only. A great marquis of hell, ruling thirty legions of demons, and a highly dangerous sower of discord. I am Andras."

The group was quickly on their feet, arms posed to potentially exorcise the demon out of Xavier, aside from Mai who sat there glancing at everyone confused. Andras didn't seem to care though, sipping from his cup nonchalantly before setting it down on the table gently.

"I wouldn't do that. If you attempt to remove me, Xavier would end up in quite a bit of pain and the pest you allowed to enter her body would be able to take her over without very much trouble. So, I suggest you sit down."

His eyes glowed for but a moment and they all took their seats, their human instincts knowing better than to argue. Silence and tension surrounded the room, and Mai took a chance and broke it.

"So, um…how long are you going to be here? I mean, like in Xavier's body or whatever."

"I will forever be a part of Xavier until we find a way to separate us with little pain. As far as this case goes though, I will be returning as soon as I finish this cup of tea. It is surprisingly good for a human drink; very relaxing."

"Thank you, but what about Xavier?"

"She should be fine after a bit more rest. I have used a lot of energy by doing this and, although it was slightly easier due to her low energy levels, she is almost completely recovered now and will be shoving me back soon."

"What do you mean, 'low energy levels'?"

It was Monk who spoke this time and Andras sighed before locking eyes with him.

"When the spirit passed through her arm, a part of it got trapped within her. Because of this, that spirit was not able to fully utilize the young psychic's body to kill the miko earlier due to the piece that is now harbored within this arm. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem and the piece of the spirit we have would be absorbed, but there is a strong outside force pulling at the spirit constantly and it is causing my seals to weaken as a result of the pushing of the spirit inside and the pulling from outside. The grey coloring of her skin right now proves that my seals are weakening and that said spirit is close to being able to control this arm, which would prove dangerous to you all should the pest be able to pull out the sealed spirits within us. In other words, Xavier and I have been continuously trying to force this spirit back and she had exhausted herself when she spoke with the spirit at the graves."

"So that's why she collapsed. Do you have any ideas what may be behind these phenomenons?"

"That I do, but to tell you would be a waste of some good enjoyment. Not to mention the fact that Xavier wouldn't want me to. I may be a demon, but she and I have made a compromise; she listens to me, I listen to her. Things move a lot smoother this way and she doesn't go putting herself in bodily harm on purpose like she did once before when I decided to not listen. Ah, but she is quite the interesting human. As much as I regret being forced into this body, I'd rather it be her body than any one else's."

The demon smiled blissfully as Monk prepared to yell again, when Andras held up a hand and stood up, walking over to the futon in the corner.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Xavier wants her body returned…There is one thing I am willing to tell you though."

Everyone perked up, hanging on the demons words as he laid down.

"You are all closer to Xavier than any other human I've known, since I've been in her body…and it won't be long before she trusts you…So, as God doth sayeth, 'Ask and ye shall receive'."

Xavier's eyes closed and she was soon in a restful slumber, leaving the SPR group to wonder about Andras and if what he said was about them was true.

It was dark, pitch black, and yet I could feel the burning sensation of flames traveling all throughout my body. I could hear voices in the background, like hearing through some unseen filter, and soon I could see shapes in the darkness, moving un-orderly and almost chaotically. Struggling to get my body to respond, I yelled only to realize that I couldn't find my voice so I calmed myself and focused on the voices around me, searching for some sign of recognition.

"Sleeping dinosaur"

Mai.

"No. Listen carefully."

Monk.

Suddenly, my head was filled with voices growing louder and louder, chanting sutras and causing my body to burn more fiercely. I gasped and willed my body to move, finally getting a response when the sutras silenced. It was small, but my hand twitched and the burning in my body died down to a slight ache. My hearing returned next, but my eyes would still not open and I heard people leaving the room, just as the lights went out, putting me in near complete darkness once again.

"Help us! We're being used!"

"We don't wish to do this!"

"Child! You're in danger! Move!"

The last voice was Andras and I felt his power seep into me, forcing myself to move just as the glass shattered above me. I felt a large piece embed itself into my lower back, but I managed to stumble over to the other side of the room where Lin, Ayako, Mai, Masako, and…was that Yasu? Sure enough, the moment I got over there, Yasu caught me as I fell and pulled out the piece of glass.

"You okay?"

"I'll be better when I beat some zombie ass!"

Standing up, I heard Yasu chuckling behind me mumbling something like 'that's my girl' before I began my own chants.

"spiritus quondam…ego intra me daemonium plus quam tu…et ego eieci te de hac virtute…per advocata de tenebrous animas intra me"*

Swinging my right arm out, the large dog from the last case appeared and guarded the doors leading to Naru while a masked sword wielding man began his assault on the rest. I continued, knowing that with the strength I have now, I should be able to keep these two out until morning, should the need arise. Things weren't going well when they began using kamaitachi though, and soon we were beginning to be overwhelmed when, luckily, Monk showed up and sealed the room off.

"Try…getting past…this, bastards!"

The corpses went away, but I noticed John wasn't with him.

"Where's John?"

"Leading Akifumi and the rest. They'll be here soon…When did you wake up?"

"A while ago."

I said with a deadpan expression, petting the large dog while fist pumping the swordsman beside me which got a look from everyone in the room. Interrupting our silent discussion was a yell from down the hall. Monk was the first one out, followed by Ayako, Mai, and I as I ordered the two spirits to stay behind. When we found John, he was battling off white orbs and I quickly went behind him to help bring people back to base. Just before I reach one of the children though, John yelled out.

"Don't touch those white things. They're dangerous!"

I turned around as one passed through Mai and she collapsed, alerting me that these spirits cause pain. Spotting one heading towards the group of huddled people, I grit my teeth and grabbed the sucker by the tail end; tossing him towards John's holy water as a sharp pain, similar to being stabbed cut through my palm. Grunting, I hefted up a child and led everyone towards base after Monk made the spirits disperse.

Once there, I made sure the non-psychics understood that my two spirits were here to help and fell to the floor over by Yasu and Monk.

"Takigawa, how are your wounds?"

"Very bad, but I don't want a guy playing doctor with me."

"Che, if you can still joke around, Monk, then you can't be that bad."

"Says you, Xavier! You're the one giving your samurai friend fist bumps!"

I shrugged and watched as Yasu asked to take a look at Monk's wounds. The moment he lifted up the guy's shirt though, Monk wailed like a girl.

"Eek! Pervert!"

"Shall I pour hydrogen peroxide over your head?"

Lifting up his shirt, Yasu quickly gave Monk's back a serious look before warning him it was going to hurt, to which he screamed; earning giggles from many of us.

"You're a man. Endure it!"

"Well, tonight I'll be a girl!"

"Oh, please."

"Yeah, Monk. Don't creep us out, would ya? You won't hear me screaming like that."

"Well yeah! You're practically a guy in disguise! Ow! Not so rough there!"

"Hm? What was that Takigawa-chan?"

I smirked in the dim light, knowing Yasu was on my side when I felt something enter the room. Turning to Lin and the others, I smirked.

"Lin, you have all your familiars now, right?"

"Yes. You can feel them, I suppose?"

"Mhmm…and now that I'm finally awake after our little mishap, I assume you all would like to know about what I discovered?"

Everyone's attention was on me and I took a deep breath as I collected my thoughts.

"The spirits in this house are familiars. Something else is using them and the spirit within Naru and I is one of the monks who're buried under the three stones by the shrine. Though they still harbor a grudge, they never wished for things to get this out of hand and they are tired of being pulled away from where ever it is they're suppose to go."

"Okay, do you know who is controlling them?"

"No. All I know is that…it has something to do with the cove."

"Well, that is fine and dandy and all, but I need you to scoot over her so I can bandage your wounds as well, Xavier. Then, you can tell me all about your little friend here."

I headed towards Yasu as he smiled and gestured towards the swordsman before patting the floor in front of him. After I sat down, I lifted up my shirt as well (only not as high) and earned a couple of gasps from the women's side of the room. If anything, my back was probably similar to Monk's judging by the look he was giving me which consisted of concern and eagerness.

He's probably waiting for Yasu to start cleaning me up so he can hear me scream. Too bad I'm not going to scream.

True enough, Monk's face fell when all I did was flinch in response to Yasu cleaning my wounds. I decided, just to spite him, that I might as well talk about my 'little friend' without so much as a stutter.

"So, you wanted to know about my crazy swordsman? I'm not sure all of you have heard of him…His name's William Lamport, nicknamed El Zorro."

I heard Monk whisper out a 'no way' and could practically feel Yasu grinning behind me, while the others just seemed confused.

"Man, you guys are hopeless. Anyway, I'm sure you want to know how I came about him…Let's see…I was in Mexico at the time, over near Mexico city, to learn some old fashioned fist fighting and Spanish swordsmanship which was being held on some old property. When I asked the man about his other students, he explained that I was the only one after they discovered a ghost that defeats all of the students during their late night training. So, I offered to see what I could do and had a duel with William over there, beating him. I would have just left it at that, but seems he was holding a bit of a grudge against the Mexican government and he'd been corrupted by a demon. Needless to say, I absorbed him and we became good pals and sword training partners not too long after. He's a great story teller as well."

I grinned, surprising most of the people in the room, before everyone was told to get some rest. I knew I wouldn't be able to sleep, in order to keep my spirits on guard, but leaned up against Yasu under a blanket against the wall. I took off his glasses and set them aside.

"Night Yasu."

"Goodnight, sleeping beauty."

I felt him smirk as he kissed my temple, me blushing while hoping no one saw that. Then I scowled.

Wait a minute. Sleeping beauty? Why does that irk me so much?

I had been zoning out most of the night in a half conscious state, when I felt Yasuhara shuffle beside me. His arms wrapped around my waist and he pulled me close, his head leaning on my shoulder. My face flushed, still not quite used to the contact when his lips brushed the edge of my ear.

"Good morning princess."

"Morning and don't call me that."

"Why not?"

Reaching around, he picked up his glasses from the ground next to me.

"I'm not the princessy type. If anything, I'm more of a Joan of Arc, mercenary type."

"Ah, but you'll always be my princess, even if you're not willing to wait in the tower for me to save you."

"I guess."

I rubbed the back of my neck, embarrassed when I noticed that a majority of the SPR were gone, leaving Lin, Naru, Yasu, and I with the rest of the sleeping family. I yawned and Yasu stood up, wrapping the blanket around me.

"I'll go make you some tea. You should have gotten some rest though. Your bags have bags."

He chuckled and I rolled my eyes tiredly, gesturing over to where my two spirits were sitting.

"If I fell asleep, they would return to me and you wouldn't have a chance to speak with the great William Lamport." Said swordsman chuckled deeply before I continued. "Oh, and where did everyone go, Lin?"

"They left to go exorcise the three monks. You appeared to be only semi conscious and they felt it would be better if you didn't come."

I nodded, too worn out to argue as Yasu handed Lin and I some tea. I was about halfway done with the drink, listening to Yasu's laughter at William's humorous stories, when my arm suddenly gave out and my cup crashed to the ground. Lin and Yasu's attention was on me as I tried to get my arm to work, to no avail. It was then, I noticed the grey discoloration that now reached the very ends of my finger tips.

"Well, shit."

My arm moved and grabbed a hold of Yasu, throwing him to the side forcefully as Lin stood up. I grabbed my arm with my other hand, trying in vain to get it to stop before it did something I regret.

"You won't be able to stop me with your mere human strength."

I might not, but Lin is more than capable.

"Lin!"

He looked a bit unsure, but nodded and quickly had me pinned to the floor before tying me up to keep me from harming anyone. He got off me, leaving me lying chest down on the floor with my arms tied behind my back and a bead of sweat rolled down the side of my head.

"Are you okay, Xavier?"

"Currently? I'm in the process of trying to shove this pest back down, but he's proving to be stubborn…And I thought our monk was bad. You okay though? I did shove you pretty hard."

"You didn't shove me, the monk did…and I'm fine. Nothing more than a few bruises. Hey, is it just me, Lin, or is the coloring retreating?"

Lin rose an eyebrow and walked over to look at my arm. I felt him poking me and was a bit surprised at this.

"Can you feel this, Xavier?"

"Yeah."

"Try moving your fingers."

I did and Lin headed back to his chair.

"Seems whatever they are doing outside is working. The grey coloration is slowly retreating and you will soon have full use of your arm, but we will keep you restrained for now as a precaution."

"That's fine. I don't mind"

Just then, the sliding door to Naru's area opened up and Naru himself walked out looking less than pleased. Lin was at his side in a matter of moments, but Naru shrugged him aside, glancing at my predicament with amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Nice to see you've finally tamed that girl of yours, Osamu."

"Heheh, couldn't have done it without Lin's help."

Rolling my eyes, I almost didn't notice Naru coming over and pulling up my sleeve before sitting down in front of me with a cup of tea in his hands. He took a sip, obviously enjoying the suspense he was putting me in.

"You gonna say something, or just sit there, sleeping beauty?"

I smirked when he glared at me for the nickname, but then he spoke.

"Do you know who we're going up against? I have obviously been out for some time and, although I have a guess, it would help to hear if you have come to the same conclusion as me."

"I guess I could tell you…but you're not going to like it."

"If it's the same as mine, I already don't like it."

"It's okobu-sama. We're going to have to go against a God and Andras and I won't be able to do much against that. If I try to absorb a God, I'll be killed from the inside out. The best I could do is use the spirits I have to take it apart bit by bit and absorb only a part of it."

"In that case, that is all I'll need you to do, so hurry up and recover. I don't need you getting in the way."

"Yes boss."

I grumbled sarcastically as he went to a nearby table, ordering Yasu to find something. Needing all the energy I could get, I released William and the dog and went ahead and took a nap. Not in the most comfortable position, but I can deal with it.

"Naru!"

Groaning because of my interrupted nap, all eyes turned to me, still tied up on the floor. Seems Monk, John, Ayako, and Mai had returned and they laughed seeing me all tied up.

"Oh. So Yasuhara's into those kinds of things~"

Monk wiggled his eyebrows at him and I sighed, looking over at Lin.

"Hey, can you untie me now? My wrists hurt."

Lin glanced over at Naru, who nodded and soon, I was sitting up rubbing my chafed wrists. Looking closer at them, I winced; the red rings throbbing. Getting up, I grabbed the first aid kit and began bandaging them over by Naru who was, like me, beyond angry. I spotted Yasu whispering to them and glared in his direction, indirectly telling him to shut his mouth before I go over there and do it for him. As you can see, I get really cranky when I don't get my sleep.

"Ahem. I guess the origin of the curse isn't the rokubu spirits."

"No shit Sherlock."

"Xavier's right. It's Okobu-sama."

"How-How did you know?"

"Our brains are different from yours."

I nodded and began working on the other wrist when Yasu discovered the papers he was looking for.

"I found it!"

"The content?"

"Um, Curse of the Guardian God. The God honored in a certain shrine as okoboshi-sama is an ebisu God, so that indicates okobu-sama. Ever since they started worshipping okoboshi-sama, it is said that the storms and high waves have stopped. So it was highly respected…but if the villagers or iwai failed to give honor, disaster immediately followed. Especially the iwai household will be cursed and many people will die."

"Xavier, what is an iwai?"

"An iwai is like a guardian of a shrine."

"Um, what does that mean, as far as okobu-sama goes?"

I tied off my bandages and sighed.

"Here, let me dim it down a little. There's a shrine, and behind that, a cave. The cave is where corpses wash ashore. There's a small shrine and honored there is an ebisu known as okobu-sama. There is an old stone stairway leading from the cave to the shrine, made by scraping away the cliff. Now why would anyone go through all of that troublesome construction? There has to be a good reason…and that reason is?"

They all still looked confused, so I face palmed and turned to Naru.

"You try and get through to this people. They're your workers. I'm getting more tea."

I got up and he continued where I left off, not quite happy that he has to explain it to them either.

"Because the main God of the shrine is placed in the cave. So they had to do it. They wouldn't have done it if it were a minor God. The God in that small shrine has to be powerful enough to make them go through the trouble."

"I see. That explains the legend."

Naru then went on this lengthy explanation about how okobu-sama went about cursing this family to begin with, leaving most of the group dumbfounded before announcing that he was going to exorcise it. Immediately, the group began to disagree, hoping to simply let it be and have the family care for it, but Naru and I had a bone to pick with that pesky God.

"So let it go? I think not. It gave us such a fun experience. It's only fair that we should reciprocate."

"I agree with Naru. If anything, someone needs to put that bastard in his place. Or did you want to retreat?"

Naru and I glanced at the group who flinched back, each and every one of them coming up with an excuse to be unable to exorcise the God.

"Well, I can't do it! There's no tree there that can help me."

"Me neither…I can only deal with spirit possession. If it's a God, I don't know what to do."

I figured Ayako and John couldn't do much of anything about that.

"Lin?"

"I don't think we can do it. Naru, I suggest keeping our hands clear of this one."

"What about you, Monk? What's your excuse?"

"Sheesh…I could try, but maybe we should listen to Lin and not do it."

"I don't need anyone who is incompetent."

That caused a majority of them to suit up and prepare. I, myself, also getting ready by meditating and connecting with Andras, telling him of the situation.

"I'll do my best. After what that pesky God did, I'm more than willing to unleash my full strength to help you and your friends."

They're not my friends, Andras.

"Then what are they? You know they are close to you and I may be a demon, but I know a bond when I see one. These bonds will become your strength in the near future, so I suggest you trust them, child."

I broke connection with him, our conversation leaving a scowl on my face all the way into the cave. I stuck close to Yasu and Naru, who told me to stand back and do nothing until it was proven that the others could not handle it. I didn't argue.

"Let's begin."

"On haba haba kiuta saba trauma. Saba saba kitsu dokan. On data gato nau beba ya sowaka."

Almost immediately, I began to hear what sounded like a heart beat and soon the others began to hear it as well. Then, the wall I was leaning against began to pulsate. Needless to say, I was no longer leaning against that wall. Next, it sounded like breathing and the entrance appeared to seal over. Monk stopped chanting and Naru, being the ever calm one along with me, announced.

"Don't bother with it. If we get the main cause, it'll open."

"They're not listening."

I whispered as spirits began to come through the walls, wailing. John quickly got rid of the first batch and Naru quickly got Monk back on task. More of the spirits began to float through the wall and at this point, everyone was fighting against them except of Naru and I. I knew better than to waste my strength now when we were up against a God. Unexpectedly, the ghosts all changed to a dull red color and our attention was brought back to Monk as he launched himself forward to stab okobu-sama. The tokkosho pierced the wood, but it did not break and Monk was thrown across the cave into a wall, knocking him out.

"John, grab that tokkosho. Use it to break the wood."

John grabbed it and pulled it out, bringing it up high to stab it, but he too was thrown away and Yasu dashed forward only for the same thing to happen. I flinched when he hit the wall, picking up his glasses as they landed at my feet and handing them back to him.

"You okay, Yasu?"

"Ow, yeah…For the time being I'm still alive anyway."

"Is that all?"

Naru was standing there looking unimpressed and silently, I agreed. I felt that they could do better if they possibly all attacked at once, but I'm not one to voice my thoughts and stood up next to him just as Mai yelled out her own thoughts.

"That's enough already! I've had it! Why are you so built up with this? Everyone's been pushed to their limits helping you! Why do we have to go through all this just for your pride? Are you insane? If it's so important to you, why don't you just do it yourself? You're protected by others, so I don't know how much pride you can have!

Same with you Xavier! You haven't done anything since we got in here! You've just stood back and watched as others get hurt like you always do! Yasuhara even got hurt and you still want us to go on with this? You may not trust us, but we've always trusted you…and now you've disappointed us all."

"Logical argument."

I said nothing, turning to glare at the shrine as everyone was helped up and they turned towards the ocean side exit, hoping it wasn't sealed.

"Naru, Xavier, let's go…Naru? Xavier?…hey, what are you two doing?"

"Don't!"

We both ignored Lin and I began chanting, my right arm held out as the dog and William appeared in front of me, sword and claws attacking the God.

"o daemonium de tenebris et odium…signatum sanguine meo et ad me…quia peccavi et sum maledictus portare tuum odium aeternum"**

I felt the power course through me from Andras as well as Naru's opposing power as he launched an attack at the God. I felt his aura fluctuate and immediately ordered Andras to give him some of my own power.

"No! If I do that, you may not have enough power to absorb the God! It could kill you!"

You wanted me to trust, well now I'm trusting. If I die now, I'll be happy just to have met them. Give it to him…just think of it as payback for not listening that one time, okay?

"If that is what you want."

I grabbed a hold of Naru's shoulder and felt the power leaving me, the ache in my arm from absorbing about a third of the God burning; the scent of burnt skin filling my nostrils.

"What are you doing?"

"Just helping you out a bit…Looked like you needed it."

His eyes widened at my pained smile just as Masako let out a gasp.

"The atmosphere…It's clear. This is not a sacred ground anymore. Spirits will not be summoned. This cave is just an ordinary cave now."

Monk let out an audible sigh where he was seated on the ground next to John, who was glancing at me concerned.

"Right now, I'm thinking if you two were able to do it yourselves, I wish you'd have done it earlier."

"As my dear Andras would say, Monk, 'there's no fun in that'."

"Let's go."

I followed Naru out, staying near the back with him. The other's weren't paying attention and I stumbled along, blood dripping down the sleeve of my dark sweater unbeknownst to anyone. My vision began to swing dangerously and I could feel my body shutting down, but just before I collapsed Naru turned around and began coming over before he too fell to the ground.

"Are you okay? Can you walk?"

Mai was trying desperately to encourage everyone long enough to get to the shade, when she heard Masako cry out.

"Naru! Xavier!"

Both of them had collapsed on the rocks and Lin quickly ran to Naru's side while Yasuhara forced himself to stumble to Xavier's. Suddenly, Lin's eyes went wide and he put his head to Naru's chest.

"L-Lin?"

He came back up and began CPR on Naru and then relaxed after checking him again. Naru was breathing, for now and John hurried off to go call an ambulance. Just then, Yasuhara's voice cried out.

"Xavier! Breathe, God dammit!"

Lin lifted his head and ran over to her side to also begin CPR. They continued to try over and over again to get her breathing, stopping only when the paramedics arrived and continued the CPR on the way to the hospital.

"I need to talk to the person in charge."

Lin stood up and the doctor soon began to explain the conditions of Naru and Xavier.

"Both are in a state of shock with weak, and sometimes irregular pulses. Although the boy seems to be recovering fairly quickly, he may fall back into a deeper state. He'll need to be hospitalized so we can monitor his progress."

"And Xavier?"

"She…She is most certainly in worse shape. We're doing everything we can at the moment just to keep her alive and she has already relapsed several times. We have her stabilized at the moment, but…I doubt she'll make it through the night. I'm sorry."

They both bowed to each other, everyone listening put in a state of shock at the news that Naru needed to be hospitalized and Xavier may die. Mai stood up from the bench and hurried over to Lin, tugging on his sleeve to get his attention.

"Lin, is something wrong with Naru?"

"No. It's not like he has a chronic disease. Xavier's condition is more concerning at the moment."

"T-Then…he used qigong. Is that the reason? This happened before to Naru. You said he just fainted, but that wasn't the real reason, was it? You knew this was going to happen, so you tried to stop him?"

"Yes."

"Is qigong that dangerous? I thought it could cure illnesses. Why does Naru fall when he uses it?"

She clutched her head and Lin tried to calm her down so he could explain about Naru's excessive amount of chi. He then told her about how he taught Naru qigong in order to compensate for that and she seemed to calm down.

"It's my fault. It's because I provoked him…Xavier too…"

"It was their fault."

"But-"

"I knew Naru understood what was going to happen and I'm sure Xavier understood as well. If they were more level headed, they wouldn't have been so provoked. But, I suppose they were upset with themselves. Naru has too much pride and Xavier seems to have something similar. It may be because of her past and maybe she didn't want to see those close to her hurt because of her negligence…but none of this is your fault.

When Naru wakes up, he'll be in a bad mood for a while. He was upset and did what he normally wouldn't do, so he blundered twice. If he hadn't succeeded in the exorcism, he probably would have died from indignation."

"Probably…but Xavier…What should we do? Yasuhara-"

"She'll be fine as well, I'm sure. She doesn't seem like someone who will give up over something like this."

The SPR was allowed to stay at Akifumi's estate and they had funerals for the dead members of the family. It wasn't long, before Naru awoke and everyone was trying to keep in high spirits, hoping that Xavier would also awaken. Yasuhara, having been released faster than expected, was constantly in Xavier's room with John visiting frequently as well. None of the group had a clue as to what had happened to cause the severe burns on her right arm and, shockingly, Naru asked to go see her. He was less than happy about having to be wheeled into her room, but didn't utter a single word as he sat and watched her.

She didn't look very well either. Countless wires and monitors were attached to her and she was thinner than before, skin now a pale white color in comparison to its normal peach hue. Her uninjured hand was curled around Yasuhara's and he looked absolutely crestfallen. One surprising word broke the silence that had fallen over the room.

"Sorry." Everyone turned to stare at Naru in shock, trying to understand why he was apologizing. "Xavier's condition is partially my fault."

"N-Naru, what are you trying to say?"

"I'm trying to say that I owe her my life."

Now, they were all taking their seats to listen to what exactly Naru was saying. The man himself sighing.

"Not long after you exorcised the three monks, I asked Xavier about what she could do should we exorcise the God. She explained to me that she would only be able to absorb part of it for, if she tried to take it all in, she could potentially die. I agreed that she should absorb only a section of it, which she did. After that though, she put her hand on my shoulder and I felt warmth flood me. I believe that she transferred some of her power to me when she noticed my weakened state…Without that, I'm positive I would also have been in her state, if not dead."

"So she…she gave you her power so you would live? But what about her? Did she know this would happen?"

"She did. When she gave me her power, I heard someone speak to me, who I believe was Andras. He said, 'She trust you more than you could imagine. Enough to risk dying to save any one of you'."

Mai began crying, lying her head on the bed next to Xavier's injured hand, as the others looked down solemnly. Someone began rubbing Mai's hair slowly and she looked up to thank them only to find Xavier's hand on her head.

"X-Xavier?"

"Not so loud…I'm still tired." Everyone quickly began smiling or, in Mai's case, crying out of joy. "Mai, who said you could cry?…You're making my sheets all wet."

"Heheh, I missed you so much!"

She hugged Xavier, who half hugged back, when Mai noticed Yasuhara sitting back in his chair. Smirking to herself, Mai let go of Xavier and began rolling Naru out of the room, telling everyone else to leave as well. They seemed a little reluctant, but Mai managed to get Monk on her side and he helped get the rest out, leaving Yasuhara and Xavier alone.

Silence covered the room and Xavier painfully sat herself up in the bed, Yasuhara coming over to help her.

"Thanks, Yasu."

He stayed silent and she looked over at him, concerned. His glasses had a glare on them and she couldn't see the emotion he held behind the lenses. Reaching her uninjured hand out, she spoke softly.

"Yasu?"

"What were you thinking?"

It wasn't very loud and Xavier could barely hear it, but once it was said, she pulled a hand through her hair and looked away awkwardly.

"It would be lying to say I wasn't thinking, but…I just didn't want him to die and I was willing to do anything to achieve that. Everyone in the SPR has forced their way into my life and you're the only people who have been willing to knock down the walls I built up…Not one of you should have to deal with losing someone that close to you…and I couldn't stand to have you guys go through the same pain that I did."

Xavier was now looking down at her hands, remembering the blood that covered them when Andras killed her 'friends'. She felt a tear slide down the side of her face and she reached up to wipe it away, only for Yasuhara's hand pulled hers away. She looked up at him just as he captured her lips with his own. She kissed back, the tears flowing freely with all the emotion Yasuhara put behind the kiss. She could feel how happy he was, how relieved he was, how much he loved her and as he pulled away, she understood what he was trying to explain to her. She was as much a part of the SPR group as any of them.

"You're not allowed to die, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear."

Little did they know, the rest of the SPR lay hidden just outside their room, witnessing everything through the small crack of the door with smiles on their faces.

This seems like a good ending to me, but if you think otherwise, tell me through a review ^^

*English Translation:
oh spirits of the deceased
I hold within me a demon more powerful than thou
and with his power I shall banish thee from this place
by the summoning of the dark souls within me

**English Translation:
oh demon of darkness and hate
come to me and be sealed within my blood
for I have sinned and am cursed to carry thy hate for eternity