The Living Doll

'He loves me, he loves me not… He loves me, he loves me not'

The rose petals fell slowly onto the clear pond and there, they floated about gracefully. A girl with ebony black hair sat nearby, watching those petals drift away from her. She told him to meet her here, at the usual place, at the usual time – just like the old days. But it seems that he has forgotten about their little rendezvous. An hour had already passed without any sign of his arrival, but she persisted sitting there, hoping that he would come. The night is young but her patience has aged.

She must see him, for tonight is a very special night for her. She plans to tell him how long she has been waiting… How she is patiently waiting to be loved back.

Chapter One: Hearts Day Present

Saturday, February 14th

5:25 PM

Today, the street shops are decorated with heart shaped ornaments in red, pink and white colors; the restaurants are having promos for couples. It is recognized all over the world that the 14th of February celebrates love - it may be the kind of love expressed between lovers, between friends or the kind of love parents give their child and vice versa.

During this day, chocolates and flowers take center stage. Valentine's Day is considered to be one of the most stressful holidays, Christmas season aside of course. No one can escape the Valentine's Day dilemma - not even Taniyama Mai. It is most likely the girl who will give chocolates to the apple of her eye on February 14, with hopes of receiving something in return on the 14th of May. Traditionally, this is how Japan celebrates the Day of Hearts.

It has been a while since SPR last solved a case. It's best to grab this opportunity for a bit of rest and relaxation however, it's a whole different story for the heroine of this chapter. Taniyama Mai has been having sleepless nights, thinking whether or not she would give chocolates to the most narcisstic person she has ever met: Shibuya Kazuya - or Naru, as she would call him. In fact, the very thought of her having feelings for the guy is already quite questionable. Or perhaps she was just denying it?

While walking down the string of Valentine's Day decorated shops, Mai heaved a heavy sigh. Upon seeing a familiar shop, she stopped to stare at a heavenly delight. The chocolate truffles on display look very tempting but she worries whether or not Naru favors sweets. If not, she should probably give him something else - like heart shaped sushi or so. She then shook her head vigorously. 'Why should I give chocolates to him anyway? He must have received a lot of chocolates since this morning' she thought, images of Naru's good looks suddenly popping out of nowhere in her head. Out of confusion and anxiety, she looked down to her feet with her forehead pressed against the glass window of the sweets shop.

"Umm… Mai?" a voice called out to her from behind. Mai quickly turned to see the other party.

"John…" she called the latter with a smile. Since SPR hasn't been solving a case, it has also been a while since she last saw the other members of the team.

"Are you… going to buy some for someone?" he asked, pointing to the chocolate truffles inside the shop. Mai shook her head vigorously again.

"Not really, I just thought of buying one for myself" she hesitated, and then covering it up with a forced laugh.

"Ahh…" John expressed disbelievingly.

"How about you? Are you going to get something for someone?" Mai asked the same question.

"No, I just thought it would be nice to have a walk today" he answered with an honest smile. At least someone is being true to himself during this time of the year. Unlike most people, John might be enjoying this day not because he would be spending his time with someone, he's just the type of person who likes to see people around him happy - he is a good priest after all.

"How about a walk? I also thought of visiting SPR today" he then added after a moment of silence. With this said, Mai nodded happily.

The two started walking down the street, on their way to the SPR building. "Did you know that Valentine's Day is actually the feast day of a saint?" John started saying. Mai shot both of her eyebrows up, her expression suddenly filled with interest.

"Really?" she asked.

"St. Valentine is the Patron of Lovers. Couples usually seek his help in love affairs" John explained. With his knowledge in the Catholic religion, Mai believes these statements to be true.

"This St. Valentine reminds me very much of Cupid…" Mai said to John while looking at some more sweets at the shop's windows.

"You can say that" John smiled to himself while looking at Mai who was obviously stressing over Valentine's Day, looking past windows and shopping for gift ideas. The day was about to end and she has not delivered her token of love for her chosen one. The exorcist priest thought that he should give this time to Mai.

"Mai…" John called again.

"Yes?" Mai asked, looking at him because of the sudden feeling of urgency.

"I just remembered… I have somewhere else to go" John told her, a bit of guilt brewed up inside of him. He needed to lie for a good purpose - It is Valentine's Day, he might as well be Mai's temporary Cupid for the moment.

"Oh… Really? Then you should come back next time?" Mai said in a concerned manner and yet, a bit of excitement was evident in her expression. Finally, she will be able to decide what to give Naru - without letting anyone in the team know about it.

"Don't worry. I'll visit very soon… Please send my regards to Naru and Lin" John said, bidding her farewell whilemoving in the opposite direction. Mai then nodded, watching her friend go.

Once no one familiar was in sight, she continued her search for the perfect Valentine's Day present - one with a very subtle message of love. At the end of the street was the city bridge. A lot of couples are gathering there today, all of them hoping to be with their partners until the next life. Since before, people believed that if a couple kissed on that bridge during this time of the year, they would never be separated - just like how the bridge connects the two lands.

Mai just stood there, sighing in dismay. If Naru were with her at that time, maybe they would…

Mai slapped herself before she could drift into some ridiculous daydream. She does not have such courage to be confessing to him. Such action might entail a change in her relationship with Naru. And if things don't go her way, she worries that she might end up being avoided instead.

The sky was now colored in an orange hue. 'It is sunset, the day is about to end' Mai thought.

Suddenly, a loud crash came from one of the shops behind. A concerned crowd quickly gathered around the accident site to see if the victim was alright. Mai followed the crowd to see what exactly happened. Upon getting a glimpse of the tragedy, she saw a man with blood on his face, writhing in pain. Beside him was his broken bicycle turned upside down. One of the watchers called the ambulance while the rest tried to call for help.

Not long, the ambulance came. "You should be careful while riding your bike next time" one of the nurses said as he and the other men heaved him to the ambulance. Struggling to get back up, the man spoke in a raspy tone. "The box… the box" he said but the medical officials did not hear him. Instead, they closed the door and rushed him to the hospital. Mai looked around for this certain box. And not far from where the accident happened, she spotted a neatly packed parchment. She went over to pick it up and examined if it was still in its pristine shape.

'The man must be in a hurry to give this to his wife. It is Valentine's Day after all' Mai assumed. While looking at the package, she noticed that a part of its wrapping had already torn off. She took a peek at what was inside the wrapping and there, she saw a transparent box showing off a beautiful silk skinned doll. It had shiny ebony black hair and very delicate features. Mai stared at the doll, it was very pretty but she had to wonder why its eyes felt so empty….

It was almost night time; silence invaded the office without a certain Taniyama Mai around. Naru placed his book down from reading and took a glimpse at the clock again. 'Where is she?' Naru asked himself. He's not used to without having Mai around the office and by this time, she should have already given him the chocolates he was expecting from her.

His impatience started to take the best of him - he couldn't concentrate on the book he was reading. And so, he decided to turn the television on to divert his concern to something else - 'something more important' he thought.

"Lady died from unknown reason" the reporter on the news channel started. "This afternoon, Mr. Takamura, father of the victim, phoned the emergency hotline saying that his daughter was found dead in her bedroom. The police then rushed to their residence and transferred the girl's body for further investigation." A slide of terrifying pictures was shown on the screen. "According to witnesses, her body looked so much like a doll and her eyes looked as if they were made of plastic"

Naru furrowed his eyebrows, staring at the television screen.

That is one creepy Hearts Day Present.

- END OF CHAPTER -

NOTES: (taken from wikipedia)

Silk-skinned or "mask-face" dolls became a popular craft in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s, allowing the individual to design elaborate kimono for dolls representing women of various periods of Japanese history, particularly the Edo period. Dolls of this type continued to be made and were a popular item for servicemen and tourists to bring back after World War II, though they also might choose dolls representing similar subjects made with gofun faces.

Author's Note: Hello dear readers! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. Please drop a review, I'd love to hear or rather read your thoughts about this chapter so far. Let me know if I should continue!