42(A/N: I feel like Mai's a little OOC at one part in here. So, just a fair warning!)
-Case 1-
(Terror rate: ** out of five.)
III
"Mummy Won't Wake"
Normal POV
"Are you sure you heard the word 'eat?'" Ayako questioned one more. Mai exhaled through in her nose in frustration. After the incident, Takahiro had also crushed Hayato in a hug once Akira was done hugging him. Naru and Lin arrived on the scene just after the father and son pulled apart. While Mai was repeating what happened to Naru and Lin, Ayako had checked Hayato for any wounds ("Great, the last thing I need is an old hag to check this body."), although a bit reluctantly.
But only just a bit.
After announcing Hayato was alright, Ayako insisted on checking Mai. A small argument ensured, with Mai claiming she was perfectly fine, but in the end, Ayako didn't check on her. Instead they retreated into the protection of the dining room. "You're absolutely sure you heard it correctly?" Ayako repeated.
"Yes, Ayako-san, I'm one hundred percent sure!" Mai threw her hands into the air, but her eyes softened. "I'm worried about Masako, though. She's much more powerful than I am-"Monk and Ayako glanced at each other and held a split second conversation before returning their attention to Mai-"so she's in more danger than me. Her phone must have ran out of battery 'cuz it goes straight away to voicemail, and we can't contact her in any other way to warn her. What if Masako gets hurt?"
"Oh, worrying about your rival now, eh?" Monk grinned, knowing it would distract Mai. As predicted, Monk was right, and Mai blushed and pouted.
"She's not my rival! And c'mon, guys, get serious!" She whined. "Slacking off and teasing won't solve this case!" Ayako and Monk stared at Mai with incredulous eyes.
"You've been spending too much time around Naru-bou, Jou-chan," Monk commented. "Soon, you'll become a tea addict and be snappy and stoic. 'Bou-san, it would bring great pleasure to my ears if you stopped talking and got back to work, or I'll dock your pay.'" Mai laughed, although she was still angry. Even then, she had to admit that Monk did do a pretty accurate impression.
"Are we done acting like little children?" Naru's cold, yet calm voice cut through the air as he stood in the door frame. Monk sputtered and Ayako stifled her laugh. Oh, Bou-san, you're so in trouble now! Mai giggled in her head. "Good. Then get to work. Takigawa-san, Matsuzaki-san, record the temperatures, as Mai's handwriting is illegible." Mai fumed as Naru shot Monk and Ayako a glare when they groaned. He turned to Mai. "Mai, Juba-San is still distressed. Right now she's cleaning the dishes, so calm her down. She's quite loud." Mai fumed again, but she knew that Naru was worried about the woman, but his awful, stubborn pride wouldn't admit it.
"Of course she's distressed, you egoistic jerk! She just nearly lost her youngest son, and you're complaining about her being loud?!" Mai growled. "What're you even going to do, anyways?"
"We're going to need information, and Yasuhara-san will be put up to the task. The rest is my business. Now you can get back to work."
"Jerk!" Mai growled, but went off to help Akira, anyway. On the way, she could have sworn she heard Ayako shout, "Mai's handwriting looks perfectly normal!" But maybe that was in Mai's imagination. When she found her, Akira was putting the dishes away, sniffling every few seconds. "Juba-san? Are you alright?" Mai asked. Akira looked up, chocolate brown orbs puffed and red. She shook her head and insisted she was fine. Mai's eyes softened and she took the dishes from Akira.
"Oh, I can't make you clean the dishes!" Akira exclaimed. "That would be extremely rude of me, Taniyama-san!" Mai shook her head and smiled.
"I don't mind. Really, I don't. Oh, and please call me Mai." She smiled.
"Then call me Akira." Realizing she would have lost anyways, Akira sat down on the table and absentmindedly put her hand on her stomach. Poor Akira-san, Mai sympathized. Loosing a child is always hard on the mother... "So, Mai-chan, do you really have a boyfriend?" Mai felt a blush go all the way up to her ears. Oh, no, not this again! Well, at least she's distracted, but she looks like she's been itching to ask this question for a while. Probably ever since it was brought up...
"N-No," Mai stuttered. "Why-"
"Forgive me if I'm overstepping my boundaries, but I'm guessing you've already confessed before?" Mai stared at Akira with wide eyes, and Akira gave a sad smile. "Your eyes betray you Mai-chan. So how long ago was it, if you don't mind me asking?" Mai internally sighed. She may be kind but she's stubborn about stuff like this. I know that just by looking at her.
"A few months ago," she finally answered. "We'll call him...Ichiro. Ichiro and I were standing by a tree, and that's when I found out he was going away for a while." Mai felt the familiar, painful ache claw at her heart. "Well, I couldn't face myself knowing I would let him go without knowing my feelings for him. So, I finally got the courage to ask him, and Na-Ichiro asks if I loved him, or his brother." Akira gasped.
"That's terrible!"
"I know." Mai groaned. "And it's even worse that his brother and I never really had a real conversation, and all together, we hadn't seen each other for very long whenever we did. N-Ichiro just blew me off. I did love his brother, but like, well, an older brother, nothing more." Another wave of pain hit Mai's heart, but she forced it away as best as she could. "So, while he was away, I went out on a couple dates, but they never lasted long. Almost all of them ended on the first date, and after a while, I knew this would keep happening, no matter how much I tried to convince myself. After that, I just kinda...stopped, I guess."
None of them noticed the sliding door was opened slightly.
"Well, I'm just glad no one took advantage of your situation and did something to hurt you," Akira admitted. "I was rejected once, too. Some guy took advantage of that, and I was almost in a abusive relationship, but I left right away. I'm gad I did, too."
Abusive? Like the woman from my dream! Could she know about her? Mai looked at Akira out of the corner of her eyes. "Well, she certainly looks like her," Mai muttered aloud. Akira perked up and tilted her head to the side.
"Look like who?"
C-Crap! Did I just say that aloud?! "U-Uh, someone I kinda know. Well, more like heard off."
"Do I know her?" Akira asked.
"W-Well, maybe. I don't remember the woman's name, but I know she had two sons-twins-and a husband. They used to live here."
"Could you perhaps be talking about my great, great, great aunt Anju?" Akira raised an eyebrow. So that's her name! Mai thought with triumph and nodded in confirmation. "How do you know her?"
"Oh, well, I overheard her name once," Mai lied sheepishly. Akira raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. "So, how do you know of her? I mean, I know you're family and-"
Akira cut her off with a laugh. "I once did a project a couple years back. I wanted to find more about my family, so I searched, and found out more about Anju. She had such a sad life..."
"What happened?"
"For starters, Anju was abused as a child, but no one ever did anything to help her. Later on she was trapped into an arranged marriage and never escaped. Even worse, she was murdered by one of her sons, but no one knows which one. Anju also had an abusive husband, too, but her sons we're apparently very nice, until the next door neighbor moved in. One of her sons killed his brother and the rest of his family, then he killed the neighborhood boy and the boy's family family. Realizing what he had done, the boy killed himself. What a sad life for them..." Mai gasped. How horrible! She thought. On the bright side, Mai could confirm that Anju was definitely the woman from her dreams, but at a bitter price.
"Could the boys' names be...Kaniji and Noberu?" Akira stared incredulously at Mai.
"Yes, how did you know?"
Mai's POV
"Could the ghosts of the boys be haunting this place?" Bou-san suggested. Naru's lips tugged into a frown.
"It's a possibility." I rubbed my arms and stared down at the floor. Something's not right. It feels...too calm right now, like something bad is about to happen. "Mai? Are you even listening?" I snapped out of my thoughts and looked at Naru, and I felt a blush rise to my cheeks when everyone was staring at me expectingly. Great, now Naru's ticked off with me!
"I'm sorry, I was kinds absorbed in my thoughts." I nervously laughed and rubbed the back of my head. "What was the question again?"
"Have you had any more dreams or visions?" Ayako repeated, knowing Naru wouldn't.
"No-" I was cut off by Naru's phone ringing. He answered it and put it on speaker.
"Hey, guys! Wassup?" It was Yasuhara-san! "Anyways, I got the information you wanted, Big Boss. We'll start from, well, the start. There used to be a hotel here once. It was called the, 'Sekimen-fū,' otherwise known as the 'Blushing Wind,' way back in the Ansei* era. It was torn down after people went missing, but police could never solve the case, nor could they find the missing persons. There was no pattern in the missing people-No one shared anything alike. Age, hair, nationality. You name it, and there was nothing connected to any of the victims. After the case was put away, the Uedas moved in. There was Ueda Takumo, Ueda Anju, and their sons Kaniji and Noberu. One of the sons killed their whole family, and the next door neighbor's family. Eventually, the boy killed himself, and other members of the family took over. They say the boy who killed the two families kept shouting, 'Teivel tells me to do it!' as he killed them. Creepy right?"
"Very creepy." Ayako gave an involuntarily shiver.
"Sorry, Big Boss, but that's all I got right now."
"Thanks, Yasuhara-san!" I chirped.
"Anything for you, Little Boss! And Big Boss, you better give Little Boss a big kiss goodn-"
"Goodbye." Naru hung up, and I swore my ears were steaming, I was blushing so much! Oh, why did Yasuhara-san have to say that?! I glanced over at Bou-san, and he looked livid, while Ayako looked like Christmas came early. I stifled my giggle when Ayako whacked Bou-San on the back of the head when he opened his mouth to say something.
"Doesn't Teivel mean, 'Devil' in Yiddish?" Ayako volunteered after that moment of silence. Bou-san blinked in surprise, his lividness (and pain) forgotten.
"How do you know that?"
"I once cleansed a house that belonged to a person obsessed with the Yiddish culture." She shivered. "He was totally obsessed with it, and kept spurting random facts all the time."
"The point is," Naru said with a subtle note of irritation, "we might be dealing with more than one spirit here. Mai, are you sure you haven't had any visions?" Naru frowned. I stopped and thought for a moment.
"Yuina, Yumi, and Ryuuto." I blurted out. Wait, why did I say that? Somehow, in my gut, I knew why. "They're related to the case, I know it." As soon as I said that, the lights started to flicker and the table shook once, twice, then stopped. The lights shut off completely after that, and all the moniters switched off. Everything was dead quiet. My eyes widened when the room temperature started to drop drastically.
Why am I always in these kinds of situations?
"It doesn't matter if you won't let me leave..." The coffee table that once sat in the middle flew up into the ceiling and broke apart. Everyone covered their head as the pieces rained down on us. Bou-san narrowed his eyes and started to chant, but it had no effect. "You can't stop me, Yuina." The next thing I knew, I was thrown against the wall. I faintly heard Naru and Ayako calling my name. "I'm leaving with him. He loves me, and I love him! You tried to separate us so many times, and for that..." I felt a pair of cold hands around my throat, and my feet left the ground as I was lifted higher and higher up against the wall. "I have to kill you."
"Na...ru..." I choked. Lin whistled and white flashes appeared before my eyes. The hold on my neck was gone, and I fell, gasping for air. Naru was by my side in an instant.
"Naru! Look!" Ayako cried. There, in the middle of the room stood an outline of a woman. Waves of energy pulsated from her, and for a moment everyone was too stunned to move. She looked at me and grinned evilly, but in a sad way, as if she conflicted on whether or not to do this. Her teeth were yellow and had bits of rotten flesh in them, and I noticed tears started to pour down from where her eyes would be if we could see them. In a blink of an eye, she was right in front of my face, and Naru and I were pushed against the wall. The outline of the woman edged closer to us, and she opened her mouth. A putrid wave of rotten flesh and blood hit my face, and I screamed.
"Mai-chan!" Akira-san shouted at the doorway. When did she come here?! The rest of her family was there, all shocked, except for Hayato-kun. He watched the scene with emotionless eyes, but the corner of his lips were tugged into a smirk, as if he was enjoying the scene. Hey, don't enjoy a ghost breathing down my face! The ghost turned around and approached them, but Hayato-kun stepped in front of his family. There was a show down between them for a pain stacking minute, but the ghost left. The lights flickered back on, and everyone was released from their paralysitic spell. "Mai-chan, Kazuya-san, are you two alright?" Akira-san ran over to us and crouched down. Naru said nothing and stood up on his own, while I smiled at Akira-san.
"I'm alright," I said, but it sounded like I was trying to convince myself more than reassuring her. I heard footsteps come closer, and my eyes widened.
"Mai-san!" No way! Was that John-san?
"So you were called in to go with Masako?" I set a cup of tea down in front of him. John nodded, smiled a thanks, and took a sip of the tea.
"Hai. Shibuya-san called me in after the incident with Hayato-kun." He took another sip of his tea.
"Yeah, that was pretty creepy. Speaking of creepy, Hayato-kun acts kinda strange for his age, doesn't he?" I wondered aloud as I tapped my chin. "And he never exactly answers our questions. I asked him how old he was, and he just said, 'I appear seven, don't I?'. When I said he did, Hayato-kun said he wanted it that way." Just then, the door opened, and Naru and Lin stepped in. "Oh, Naru, there you are."
"Mai, tea." JERK! He could have at least tell me where he was! I grumbled about him being a egoistic jerk as I stormed off into the kitchen. I didn't look back because I knew Naru would have that irritating smirk of his on his face. In the kitchen, if I listened close enough, I could hear bits of their conversations. Hey, it wasn't eavesdropping if it was related to the case (which I was on)...right? Listening closer, I heard Naru say, "Where's Hara-san?" I frowned. That's right, I haven't seen Masako yet.
"I believe she's talking with Juba-san in the kitchen," John replied. Well, as annoying as she is, at least Masako is safe. I finished the tea and headed back to base. Outside the door, I heard John say, "You think Hayato-kun is possessed?"
What?! I opened the door.
"Hayato-kun is possessed?" I repeated and set the tea down. "Well, that does make sense... Hey, maybe that's why he was following me?" I wondered aloud (again). Naru frowned as he brought the tea cup up to his lips. His eyes flashed dangerously, and I gulped.
"He was following you? When was this?"
"I didn't tell you?"
"No, Mai, you obviously didn't. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been asking you these questions." I fumed. "When was he following you?"
"Well, I don't have any proof, but it was more of a feeling that he was following me. When I was walking around when I lost everyone, I didn't see any other person, but a vase was knocked over by someone who was there a few minutes earlier," I explained. Naru frowned, and I could tell what he was thinking. "No, I don't remember how I got lost. Every time I try to, my head starts to hurt." I rubbed my temples. After trying again and again to remember how I stranded from everyone in the the first place, I always came up with nothing but a headache. "Did Hayato-kun do anything weird when I was gone?"
"Hayato-kun's shirt was wet when we saw him, and he didn't directly answer our question when we asked him where he was."
"If Hayato-kun is possessed, then how long has he been possessed?" John asked. I mulled over the question. How long had Hayato-kun been possessed, if Naru was right? Oh, what're you talking about, Mai! Naru is always right.
I suppressed a shudder. Did I really just think that? I bit my lip as I could only imagine Naru's reaction if I ever said that out loud. He'd probably agree, to be honest. No-he would agree.
"According to Juba-san, Hayato-kun has been acting strange all month," Masako said, which pulled me from my thoughts. When did she get here?! "But it hasn't been consistent. Sometimes, he would act as he normally would, but then sulk a minute later. Juba-san has expressed her worry that she does not believe her son's behavior is natural, and seeing the way he acted today at breakfast, she believes he is possessed." Masako covered her mouth with her kimono haughtily. John nodded, satisfied with the answer.
"Is Juba-san with his son Kazuo-kun?" He asked, and Masako nodded.
"When do we start it?" I asked Naru.
"The sooner the better."
Normal POV
When they went upstairs, Hayato was already asleep. Akira had said to them that it takes a while for Hayato fall asleep, but when he does, he's out like a light.
"You know, when he isn't insulting us or acting proud, he's kinda adorable. Of course, that's only when he's asleep." Ayako commented.
"So you watch little boys when they sleep, eh?" Ayako smacked Monk on the back of his head so hard that he fell over. Mai sighed. They're like a married couple, Mai thought. It's obvious that they like each other, though. Why don't they admit it?
"Once you're done behaving like ill mannered children, we can start." Masako's voice was, surprisingly, loud and clear since her mouth was, as usual, covered by her kimono. Ayako and Monk stopped fighting but shot a glare at the kimono girl. In return Masako made no indication that she acknowledged their glare, which only made it worse. Mai sighed. Some things had never changed, but then again, she wouldn't have it any other way.
"Shouldn't we wait for him to wake up?" Mai whispered. "It'd be really rude of us to wake Hayato-kun up."
"Whether he's asleep or not doesn't matter," Naru interjected and looked to John, as if asking if he was ready. John nodded in confirmation, stepped forward, and began the exorcism. Akira grabbed Mai's hand suddenly and closed her eyes. She inhaled deeply to calm herself, and Mai squeezed her hand in reassurance. Akira's eyes snapped open and she looked at Mai gratefully. Suddenly there was an extremely loud "BANG", as if someone had rang five large gongs at once. Everyone but John, Naru, and Lin covered their ears.
"No!" Akira's and Mai's heads snapped in Hayato's direction. He continued to squirm on his bed as his eyes widened. He thrashed and thrashed, making inhumane noises at the same time. "No! I refuse to leave! I'll kill you all!" Hayato arched his back and screamed. I've never seen such a violent reaction, Mai thought as Akira covered her gasp with her hand. The lights flickered on and off and the noises continued to grow. Monk gritted his teeth and started to chant, but when he did, everything abruptly stopped. Naru narrowed his eyes when Hayato looked at him straight in the eye with mad eyes. "When the end comes, you won't be able to protect her from me..." His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he stopped moving altogether. For a moment, Mai thought she saw panic swell up in Naru's eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came.
"It's done," John announced. "I've never seen such a violent reaction," he admitted, "in a case like this."
"Will he be alright?" Akira asked. She stepped forward with worried eyes. "My son is okay, isn't he?"
"He's fine." Naru reassured. "He probably won't know what's been happening for the past month, and he will most likely not recognize us. You'll have to fill him in later on the situation." Akira nodded as she continued to stare at her son. She got down on her knees and brushed some of Hayato's read hair away from his sleeping eyes. She smiled, and her hand trailed down to his cheek.
"Once he wakes up, I think you'll like him," she whispered. "He's quite a bright little boy." Akira closed her eyes and leaned against Hayato's head. "Before he was possessed, he was always quite a happy boy. One day, when we took a road trip, he found a turtle on the side of the road and named it Midori. Hayato played with it all day and into the evening. When we had to leave, he was so upset he couldn't stop crying. After a week, he got over it, though, and then we moved in and..." Monk put a hand on Akira's shoulders.
"You should get some sleep. Something tells me you're going to need your energy if you're going to explain the situation tomorrow." Akira nodded, stood up, and bowed a thanks to Monk.
"Thank you." This time Mai couldn't help but note that, for the first time since they arrived, there was a tiny spark of happiness in Akira's eyes.
A/N: I'm sorry this is so late! D: there's a bunch of reasons why; health, revising, inspiration, but I'm not going into details. Even then, I'm still reaaaaaaalllly unhappy with this chapter, but as I'm over a month late it's a bit too late for redoing it T^T Time flies waaaay too fast, especially during the summer! (Or winter, if you're on the southern part of the world.) So, as an apology, this is over 4,000 words long! Yay? Anyways, R&R, please!
*Ansei era-1854-1860