'Reflections'
Disclaimer: I never owned Ghost Hunt, all copyrights rest to the respective owner.
Remember the scene from the manga during which Naru finds the lake in which Gene's body is? Well I wanted to put my views from Naru's perspective. Enjoy!
*Ani = older brother.
"Lin..."
The only thing he could manage to do was whisper as everything around him seemed to tighten painfully, the adrenaline coursed his body and he felt static, something like an electric current – sharp, hissing around him, uncontrollable. Quite suddenly everything around him tilted as he was sucked back in time, as if going through a replay function and then his dazed eyes met that scene...the scene that still haunted him.
He was standing there, in his room at England, his eyes unnervingly black, his expression taut and the shirt in his hand, crushed under his gripping fingers. He had clasped it so tightly that his knuckles were white, his skin was stretched and he looked...no...felt livid, angry, passionate and exhausted – all of a sudden.
"...Noll..."
Lin's voice was added to his new torment as he gripped the seat, clenching his jaw – trying hard not to say anything with Hara-san in the backseat, he didn't want her to know another weakness. Damn it! Why hadn't he let Mai sit in the van...why?
It was coming now, like it did with all visions, slowly but surely like a plague – the memories, all the sounds with an acute clarity. He could hear the screeching of tires, he could hear the hiss of pain that he - no Gene made, he could hear the woman's horrified shriek, the car's horn...and the collision, the impact.
The pressure over his body...the creaking of bones, Gene's broken inhale resounded...pounded against his ears and he could only manage to voice out the next string of words with the left-over energy.
"Lin." He let the command take over his voice, willing the despair to go away somehow. "Lin stop the car."
"What? Why -"
Naru wanted to smash his head against something hard, Lin was not his babysitter – he could clearly make his own decisions...why couldn't he just nod and comply?!
"Lin." He bit out the words, venom lacing the single syllable. "Just stop the damned car."
He knew that Lin was looking over at him, he knew that Hara-san too was staring at him curiously but he just didn't care anymore – the visions were becoming more haphazard by the moment, the images more vivid yet more distant from him than ever...like a transparent veil that he couldn't tear away. There was the voice of a woman that pounded against his brain, like a soft lullaby, then there was his twin smiling widely at him making his head just spin faster.
"Naru...are you –"
He couldn't hear who had called him, his hand was already unfastening the seat-belt, he was already exiting the car...a little unsteady in his gait but firm, determined.
Naru felt a lot of eyes gazing curiously at him but he could care less, he had done it, he had achieved his mission and he felt some of the tension evaporate from inside himself. It had been done, he had found it, he had found it, he had found it...
"Is this the place?" Lin's hand rested on his shoulder but Naru didn't turn back. "Noll?"
"Yes..."
Finally...
Finally...
Finally...
Oliver Davis clasped the railing and then leaned over – wanting to find his brother in the depths of this lake by just looking but the more he leaned over, the more the same thing greeted him in the water.
His dazed reflection...the face that so resembled Gene.
"Ani*..."
Naru wanted to destroy the waves beneath him just to discover his twin but he had to be patient, he had to be composed to deal professionally with this situation because once he had done that then he could go back to England, he could keep all promises, he could return to his life, he could have the peace of mind that...
"N-Naru..."
It was that voice, a small hand covered his own and he felt warmth, immediate and sudden surge around him. However, he snatched his hand back and averted his eyes away from Mai's brown ones, she didn't know his circumstances – he couldn't tell her about everything, there was no other way.
"Naru-bou is everything alright?"
It was the Monk – he found it quite irritating that they insisted on asking if everything was alright even when they knew that nothing was what it seemed. But that was human nature – they needed far too many confirmations about a thing just to ensure their peace of mind.
"I'll explain everything but first all of you have to leave."
"Leave?" Yasuhara chimed in, looking curious all of a sudden."What do you mean by leave?"
Naru was quite agitated at the sudden burst of questions that surrounded him, curious voices asking him different questions, a hint of curiosity lining the tune of each one but he could just hear their voices, unable to clearly image the face of each of his team.
"I'll answer all your inquiries but will you all keep quiet?" Naru issued a command, he didn't ask a question out of this but he expected all the others to follow his order without objection or delay.
"Mai and the others will leave, while I," He paused and then turned back to look over at the lake, his hands tightened again over the railing as the feeling of emptiness returned with full force. "I have some business to attend over here."
His answer was met with complete silence, a low breeze ruffled around them and he heard the rustling of the leaves...although the scene was highly peaceful but he could see death, death and tragedy coupled together in here. Resting right inside the lake.
"...and Mai," Naru felt a strange pang of guilt – something he had never allowed himself to feel before, a strange discomfort in his words. "You should start looking for another job."
He then dared himself to look at Mai, straight in the eye which proved to be a mistake on his part – because he saw fear flood her eyes and strangely he understood – she was afraid of being left alone, like she had been before SPR.
"B-but SPR and all that -" Mai was stuttering, her whole body trembling as apprehension and fear took over her features, the light inside her cheerful cinnamon eyes was diminishing and it moved Naru a little. That was why he had kept his distant, he didn't want to hurt people anymore...he had already done so unintentionally. He was exhausted by all this but Mai was bringing back all that he had guarded himself against.
Ayako shouted at him but he barely heard her – he was staring at his rippled reflection in the water again but it did nothing to console him, inside he was bitter because somehow whenever he was on the brink of starting a new life – something, some turn in the road stopped him from it. Like life was doing now, changing his directions once again and as much as he loathed to admit it...he was just adjusting with these idiots at his business.
But he would never tell that to them.
So he just stared at the water, his brain somehow slowed down during all this and he found it easier not to concentrate on Mai who was standing beside him – shocked and sad. He couldn't care because he wasn't supposed to care...he was the cold-hearted jerk as she had said and his aim in Japan was to find his twin's dead body and put it to rest. That was it.
Maybe if he kept on telling that to himself, he'd believe it one day.
Just maybe...
It was just something that I came up with while learning for my first exam - yeah that fan girl part of my brain still works even if it is during cramming historical dates XD
So...umm enjoy reading and leave a review :) Have the customary cookie!