You Only Die Twice-Chapter 3

[Dual]

DAY ONE: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 30^TH, 2010, 0015 HOURS

After two hours, we were finished setting up. The entire manor had been filled to the brim with ghost hunting equiptment-video cameras (Including infared, thermal vision, and night vision) sound recording devices (From high tech to low tech-sometimes ghostly noises appear better on old fashioned tape recorders than on high tech equipment) to even electronic thermometers (Ghost have been known to lower temperatures) and even EMF meters, which record unexpected fluxes in a room’s electromagnetic field. And, of course, a few thousand dollars worth of computer equiptment that it all connected to. From there, we could monitor the entire manor, see everything that our camera’s see, hear everything that our recording devices hear, and, of course, record the changes in temperature and electromagnetic fields. It was all standard ghost hunting equipment-worth, in total, maybe twenty thousand dollars-but Doctor Card was clearly impressed.

“What would this be?” the good doctor asked, holding up a particularly expensive piece of equipment.

“Motion sensor,” said Luke simply, without taking his eyes off of the computer screen in front of him. He was watching the house, making sure that nothing happened.

“And this?”

“Geiger counter. Ghosts sometimes emit radiation. Somehow.”

“And what about this?”

“Ipod. I enjoy listening to music on the job.”

The doctor gave Luke a bewildered look, and Luke laughed. “I’m kidding. That’s an air quality monitor. It detects the gases that ghosts put out, like carbon monoxide.”

“I see…well, I’ll leave dealing with all this up to you. I’m going to get some sleep, I’d suggest you do the same-“

“Oh, no, Doctor. We never sleep on the job. Except when we’re really tired or really want to.”

“I see…we’ll discuss your pay in the morning, then, shall we?”

“It is the morning, but I see your point.”

I looked around the room. The father was reading something out of his bible, apparently studying various prayers and quotes that could be used for exorcism. Aku was pacing, walking back and forth across the room as she waited for something to happen-a common practice for her. The girl was impatient, and didn’t like having to wait for ghosts. As for Luke…well, he was sitting in a swivel chair, at the computer system-which consisted of a multitude of laptops-drinking, as usual, sweet iced tea with milk. Lord knows where he found it.

I was laying down on the couch, clutching Tengoku to me, stairing at the doctor thoughtfully, unblinking. He flashed me a nervous grin, clearly unsettled, before excusing himself from the room and leaving.

“Well,” said our fearless leader, clearly disappointed. “He seems nice, and clearly not a serial killer at all.”

“What did we say about trash talking the client, hmm?” chastised the priest.

“Whatever,” Luke said, fanning himself with a piece of paper. “Anyways, let’s just get this over with quick before Hallowe’en comes around. I wanna see girls in skimpy costumes.”

“Of course you do,” Aku said angrily, still pacing. “Have you ever considered that maybe the rest of us would look down on your pervertedness?”

“The thought has occurred to me,” admitted Cypher, “But quite frankly, I’m confident that my dashing good looks and charming charisma will force you to forgive me for my sins. Besides, riddle me this: If girls don’t want to be ogled at, then why do they dress in such provocative and revealing clothing?”

“That’s…” the girl replied, clearly at a loss. “Well…-“

“It doesn’t excuse your actions, Luke,” the father said simply. “Although I can understand that you’re young and inexperienced, you have to realize that there is such a thing as self restraint, and if you don’t learn that then you’ll be single forever.”

“I’ve had plenty of girlfriends,” argued Luke defensively.

“Had is the key word. Did any of them stick around? Did you ever love any of them? I’m not talking about the lustful relationships you’ve gotten yourself involved in. I’m talking about actual love, feeling strong emotions toward another person. A concept you don’t seem to understand.”

“Eh? Never took you for a romantic. Still, I don’t see your point.”

The priest sighed. “Look. Here’s how it is. Girls won’t respect you until you respect them. So long as you keep up your…perverse…actions, no girl will respect you enough to actually take you seriously and see you for who you really are. Until then, your love life will end in nothing but heartbreak and misery.”

Luke raised an eyebrow suspiciously, swiveling around in his chair to face the father. “You know quite a bit about romance for someone who’s allegedly a priest. Neh, Father?”

The priest flushed slightly. “I know what I know from years of observation. Any fool could figure it out if given the chance. Its simple logic-girls want a man they can respect. Right, Aku?”

“Exactly,” the Miko responded. “Girls don’t like guys like you. It’s a simple fact.”

“What is it, gang up on Luke day?” the boy grumbled. “At least the silent Knight isn’t chastising me as well.” He gestured to me. I said nothing.

“Yes, well, that’s because she’s her,” said Aku, admittedly a bit rudely. “If she were any other girl she’d hate you just as much as I do. You’re the enemy of all women, you know that? The only reason she doesn’t hate you is because it’s impossible for her to hate anyone.”

Luke turned to me, a surprised look on his face. Why? Because of what I said just after.

“I hate some people,” I corrected Aku, quietly speaking.

Aku did a take, and the father blinked.

“I…beg your pardon?” the girl asked.

“I hate some people,” I whispered simply. Aku gave me a look.

“Who do you hate?”

I sat there, silently. A minute passed, the room completely silent. Finally…“I hate the serial killer who’s hurting the children. I don’t like it when people hurt children. So I’m going to kill him. The murderer, I mean.”

The three stared. I stared back at them. Finally, Luke spoke, his sunglasses hanging off of his eyes.

“That’s…nice,” he struggled out. His smile was gone. That wasn’t typically a good sign. “Well, then…um, maybe we should sweep the house? Start purifying it?”

“Um…right,” Aku said, before standing up. “Excuse me,” she said, leaving the room.

The father was silent.

Luke grabbed a pair of dowsing rods, and, nodding politely to both me and the father, left.

Me and the father sat there, alone, staring at each other. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he spoke.

“Miss Natas,” he said, choosing his words carefully. “We…need to talk.”

“Yes?” I asked, clearly confused. I wasn’t quite sure what he was getting at. I’ve found that I can be a bit slow sometimes-not due to any fault of mine, but because the people around me aren’t particularly clear to me. I can’t understand others as well as most people can, can’t understand their emotions or expressions. Luke calls it Aspergers syndrome, the Father calls it anti-socialism, and miss Aku calls it being a freak, though not to my face. Whatever the case, the fact remains that I can’t comprehend the actions of others as well as I would like. My Sensei, when he was alive, used to joke about me being more of a ghost than the ghosts were when it came to understanding humans.

I don’t think The Doctors ever cared.

“Look…how do I put this…”

“What is it?”

“Are you…ok?” He asked, cautiously. “I mean…about that?” The man was clearly uncomfortable with the situation. He nervously played with his fingers, presumably unconsciously.

“What is,’that’?”

He told me.

Slowly, I nodded. “I’ll be fine,” I answered, almost inaudibly. I studied Tengoku no Tokkou silently, and carefullydrew my finger across the blade.

“I see,” he said, slowly. He sat there, quietly thinking. Finally… “You know, if you ever need to talk to someone about it, I’ll be there. I’m here to support you. You’ve clearly been traumatized, so…I was just wondering if you needed any counseling, or…”

“Thank you,” I said. “But I’ll be fine.”

We sat their awkwardly, staring at each other-the swordsman-well, swordswoman-and the catholic priest. Finally, I excused myself, and left the room to find the others.