Mai's POV
"me?"
"or Gene?"
With those words my heart thudded in my chest yet at the same time it jumped into my mouth, my eyes fell to the ground. I had no answer for that, all the times I saw Gene in my dreams I thought he was Naru and now I couldn't decide which one I liked.
"Naru! We need to get going" Lin shouted from the van ending the war inside of my head and we both headed to the van. SPR had ended now and Naru and Lin where going back to England where I would never see them again.
Naru's POV
Gene's funeral passed quickly and within a year of it I decided to return to Japan and reopen SPR there as there weren't any good cases in England like there was in Japan.
On the plane to Japan Lin fell asleep which left me time to think and I found my mind wandering to what Mai said when we left. Instead of trying to figure out who she liked more I decided to try and figure out how I felt towards her. I pulled out my wallet and looked at the picture Mai put inside the little picture bit after I said I liked it, it was a group photo of SPR, I remember Mai begging everyone to get into the shot before the timer went off. I started at her smiling face and the strangest sensation over came me, my heart was beating faster than after I released my powers on the cursed house case and when I tried to look away I couldn't.
I was in love with her... but she might not be in love with me.
Mai's POV
I decided to visit the SPR office today, I brought a load of cleaning supplies as it had been a year since anyone had been inside the building and it must be in desperate need of cleaning. When I reached for the door handle voices coming from the inside floated through the door.
"Couldn't someone had cleaned this office while we were away I did give them all a key to this place are they really that lazy?"
I grabbed the box I had with me and positioned it so I attack whoever was behind the door then slowly slid open the door.
"Mai there you are, clean this place up, make us some tea and called the others and be quick about it a client could turn up at any moment and we look like we just open for the first time" a narcissistic voice commanded.
Pale blue eyes flickered towards me before burning back to the paper work in his hands, Naru was back and it seemed nothing had changed. Sighing I set about cleaning the place up, it took less time than I thought and I was soon in the kitchen making Lin and Naru's tea when all of a sudden reality slipped away.
Naru's POV
A loud clatter sounded from the kitchen and with I sigh I went to investigate. Coffee, sugar and water covered the floor and right in the middle of it was Mai who was clearly unconscious and was twitching and murmuring to herself obviously having "one of those dreams". Sighing again I picked her up and placed her on a nearby couch and checked her over. Luckily she hadn't turned the kettle on so she hadn't suffered any burns. I grabbed my paper work and laptop from my office and sat against the couch, too scared to leave her on her own in case she it was a bad dream and she woke up upset.
Mai's dream
Slowly objects because outlined in white against the darkness before becoming coloured and creating a scene of a graveyard. Hundreds of headstones and statues where scattered across the green grass that was in front of a majestic church and a small building. At the base of each grave stone was a small fox fire but instead of them being bright they were dull like a fire going out. I jumped as a hand placed itself on my shoulder; I turned and found myself face to face with Naru's deceased twin brother Gene.
"It's a shame" he said softly "that spirits will do anything for a better afterlife"
"what's wrong with wanting a better afterlife" I retorted
"it comes with a price that's why the foxfires are so dull and lifeless"
"why are they like that?"
But instead of replying he simply smiled everything faded to darkness.
Mai's POV
Slowly my eyes flickered open and I was staring at the ceiling of the office. I shot up into a sitting position.
"Oh are you awake now after your little nap? You show really sleep more that's what night time is for" A voice from lower down spoke up.I looked down to the floor and sat with his back to the couch surrounded in paper work and pens was Naru.
Naru's POV
"Hey not everyone can get a full night's sleep especially since they have had to work nights so they can still go to school and pay the bills!" Mai snapped back. I sighed and collected up my paper work and laptop and started making my way to my office.
"I saw Gene in my dream" Mai said softly "I wonder why he hasn't left since you found him and buried him."
I turned to look at her, my heart racing, wondering why Gene was still her sprit guide. I searched her face to try and detect what her feeling where towards him but found nothing but confusion.
"Tea Mai" I said and with that I headed to my office.
Mai's POV
For a moment when Naru looked at I thought I saw an something different in Naru's eyes that wasn't there when he last looked at me, I sighed I must of imagined that because for a moment his eyes looked soft and affectionate the eyes of a person looking at the person they love but Naru would never look at me like that. I went back in to the kitchen and cleaned up the mess id made when I fainted and set to work making tea when there was a knock on the office door.
Naru's POV
The old man shook slightly in his seat, his eyes where light blue and full of terror. He introduced himself as Takayuki and was the owner of the cherry blossom graveyard. The cherry blossom graveyard was behind a small church near the ocean and was mainly for the burial of teenagers as the village nearby was a popular place among teenagers due to its large amount of shops and parks.
"Ever since the house for homeless teenagers was built nearby things have been being broken or going missing but none of the teenagers have been doing it and last week one teenager went missing and was later found in the attic covered in cut and bruises screaming about how she was going to get us all" He said in a quiet voice.
"Interesting...well take this case" I told the man gently.
"Oh thank you thank you so much" he cried before standing up and leaving.
Mai's POV
Cherry blossom graveyard looked exactly like it did in my dream with the exception of the foxfires.
"How come most graveyards have to be haunted just because they have dead people in them?" Ayako complained
"Because the sprits bodies are buried here so they can leave and they become restless as they can't see their families when they want to" Masako explained
The others had joined us soon after the man left meaning we could set off the next day, Takayuki showed us round the teens home, the graveyard and the church before showing us to a small cottage nearby where we would be staying during the case.
Whilst we where unpacking I came across a photo at the bottom my case, it was of me and Naru in the office, I was giving Naru his tea. The date at the bottom of the photo was yesterday when we had all gotten together, Monk had brought a camera purely because he wanted to remember the day. I smiled at the photo then noticed something, Naru's eyes where soft and gentle like the eyes of a lover and they were looking straight at me the same way he did in the office after I woke up.
Could Naru have feelings for me as I did for him?
Naru's POV
All of a sudden my door flung open and stood in the door way was Mai, a crumpled piece of paper clutched in her fist, her eyes soft and gentle.
"I thought about what you said before you went to England" she gasped
"And?" I questioned slightly annoyed at the fact she had just barged into my room.
"It's you, it's always been you" she faltered, tears running down her cheeks "Sure you're not like Gene but it's you I know and you are the one that makes my heart race and my palms sweaty not Gene and I know you don't exactly like me bu-"
I reached out and grabbed her before she could finish and held her to my chest wishing nothing more but then to hold her in my arms. I placed my hand under her chin and pulled her face up and looked in to her deep brown eyes.
"Don't you ever say I don't like you ever again because it isn't true I love you and I can't bear the thought of you thinking I don't like you" I told her gently before pulling her lips to mine and kissing her with such passion the room could of set on fire and I wouldn't notice.
"HEY LOVEBIRDS WE HAVE A CASE TO SOLVE SO STOP MAKING OUT AND HELP US OUT" someone shouted from the door before running away.
"I think we'd better get back to base before they come back again" I whispered in her ear as she flushed red "you know you that colour makes you look so beautiful that I should make you blush more" I said smiling
"Then you should smile more" she replied.
Sighing I released all of her but her hand as we walked to base hand in hand.
Mai's POV
The moment me and Naru entered base everyone became silent indicating they had been talking about us.
Naru sighed "the next time my door is open I would prefer you all to walk by and not comment on whatever I am doing in my room, that especially goes to you Monk" he said in a soft deadly voice "so what have we found out about the graveyard?"
"The only usual thing we found out was that before they started burying the deceased youth in this plot of land it was already a graveyard but there was only one grave and it belonged to a Ayu Narumi who died at the age of sixteen from Spanish influenza 1983, the only one to die in this area as she was one of the earliest too catch it and died before the vaccine reached this village" Lin informed us.
All of a sudden bright white spots entered my vision, threatening to take over completely, desperately I turned to Naru but before I could open my mouth I slipped away.
Mai's dream
I was back in the graveyard and the foxfires where hovering around as if they were bored.
"MAI!" a familiar voice screamed in panic, I turned and found Gene running full pelt towards me his eyes full of fear. He stopped right in front of me and grabbed my arms.
"You need to get away from here far away before she gets you, she nearly stopped me from warning you but you need to run get as far away as possible before she hurts you!" Gene cried his eyes flickering from my face to the darkness as if looking for a possible threat.
"Why do I need to get away, why does this ghost want me so badly" I question him franticly, the fear in his eyes making me more and more worried by the minute. He opened his mouth to reply but before he could a pair of ghostly arms stretched out and wrapped themselves around him and started to drag him away.
"Run Mai, just run before she comes after you before she takes your life!"
My heart stopped on the last few words, who was this ghost and why did she want my life so much.
Naru's POV
I saw the fear in her eyes before she collapsed to the floor; I quickly scooped her up and placed her on the nearest empty couch. I stroked her face fearfully, my heart racing, when she slowly opened her eyes. I sighed in relief "did my kissing affect you that much" I whispered in her ear but then I looked into her eyes and saw that they were frozen with fear. Slowly her eyes filled with tears that threatened to overflow, I wrapped my arms around her and clasped her to my chest as she let the tears flow freely. It was an entire ten minutes before she could finally talk.
"Gene told me to run, that the ghost was after me" She whispered in my ear low enough that no one could hear and with those words my heart froze.
"Are you sure?" I asked, fear slowly creeping into my voice.
"Yes, she tried to stop him telling me and took him away before he could tell me why" her voice faltered toward the end and her eyes filled with fear again.
I clasped her to my chest even harder, this ghost sounded stronger than I first thought and now it was after the only person I had loved in a long time.
Mai's POV
I was now sleeping in Naru's room for as he said "my own protection" not that I minded much, Lin had ended up sleeping in my room as he and Naru where sharing a room while everyone else had their own and he needed to keep an eye on Naru in case he lost control of his powers. I caught Lin's eye as I walked past him and instead of it being annoyed it was soft and relaxed.
"The only reason I'm not angry with switching rooms is because I know Naru will be able to control his powers better if he knows your safe as he won't be agitated not knowing if your safe or not" he explained when he caught me staring at him with a puzzled look.
I set my suitcase on the bed but before I could even unpack it arms surrounded my waist and kisses were place up and down my neck.
"Na-" lips came down on mine before I could complain so I just kissed back in complete bliss, slowly hands tugged at the bottom of my shirt pulling it out of my skirt before finger started running along the top of my skirt.
BANG!
The windows slammed shut and reopened and slammed themselves repeatedly not pausing for a second.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Ice cold fog drifted in through the windows, covering the floor.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
"MAI GET OUT OF HERE" Naru all but screamed at me and without a second thought I raced out of the room and down the corridor. It was only when I bumped into something ice cold and transparent that I realised I was no longer in the children's home.
The room was bare with nothing but a brown battered old couch but that wasn't what made me scream. The wall where covered in dry concealed blood and covered in scratches and dents as if someone had been thrown repeatedly at the walls. I looked up to see what I had bumped into and only just bit back the scream that nearly fell out of my mouth.
Stood in front of me, pale and translucent, was the ghost of Ayu Narumi.
Naru's POV
All of a sudden the windows just stopped and the fog vanished just as Monk raced into the room waving his bead, he stopped when he notice there was nothing wrong.
"huh, I coulda sworn I felt something wrong" Monk mumbled to himself "where's Mai" he asked noticing her suitcase on the other bed, still unopened.
"Didn't you run past her as you came here, I told her to get out of here when the haunting started" I questioned him and he just shook his head.
My heart stopped and I ran out into the corridor which was completely empty.
"MAI!" I screamed countless time all around the house but she never replied.
I entered base and stopped. Written in blood across each wall was "I WILL BRING BACK THE BODY OF THE GIRL WHEN SHE HAS PAID FOR WHAT HER FAMILY HAS DONE" and with that my heart turned to ice.
Mai's POV
My heart stopped when I looked into her dead brown eyes, I had fallen right into her trap, she had made the other ghosts attack the house in order to get me away from Naru and it had worked.
I searched franticly for a way out but the room was encased by the bloodstained walls.
I darted away from her but the moment I moved her cold dead hand grasped my neck and before I knew it I was airborne. My back hit the wall with a sickening crack, my head following; pain flooded through my body and took me to the dark world of unconsciousness.
Naru's POV
The rest of the team entered base to find out why I hadn't reported back to them, they all fell silent when they read the blood writing on the wall.
"What have Mai's family have done to Ayu's family to make Ayu's ghost want revenge this bad" I whispered to scared that my own voice could cause Ayu to hurt Mai.
"I think I might know" a voice piped up from the open window, there straddling the windowsill was Madoka with a large pile of papers in her arms. "Apparently the Taniyama family and the Narumi family where once great friends and where hardly seen without one another but when one member of the Taniyama family had a fling with a member of the Narumi family and ended it badly the member of the Narumi committed suicide and in the note they left they said the cause of their suicide was the fling with the member of the Taniyama family and since then both families have had a deep hatred of one another. To get rid of the grief the Narumi family moved here to get away from the Taniyama family and vowed to tell each Narumi family child the story as to keep the hatred going but the family line ended with Ayu"
"Do we know the names of the family members involved in the fling" Lin questioned Madoka
"No those filed where long destroyed and nobody really knows what happened as the situation was entirely covered up and a replacement story was spread out amongst the towns people to explain the recent death"
Sighing I turned to the writing,
"Do you know where Ayu was when she was last alive" I asked
"Yes she was kept in a small shack type house, the only thing is that it had no windows or doors because the towns people wanted to keep the virus at bay so they encase her so other people wouldn't get infected" Madoka replied "They only found out she was dead when they checked the shack when the vaccine had arrived and even then she had been dead for several days".
That settled it, I was going to the shack and getting Mai and destroying that ghost one way or another.
Mai's POV
Every part of my body hurt and when it didn't I knew I wasn't awake.
The only time I heard Ayu say something she was either threatening me or saying that I deserved this but this time when I came to I heard crying.
I turned my head to the sound and saw Ayu on the couch curled up crying her eyes out.
"Why? Why? Why did they lock me in here? If they hadn't I wouldn't be dead and have to get my revenge this way. Revenge would have been sweeter if I was alive; I could have shared it with a beloved but no they had to lock me in here simply because they didn't want to get ill. Why should that girl get to live and love someone if I can't? Well she can just kiss her life good bye it's time for my family get kill off one of her family and to make it harder on who ever loves her I'm going to draw it out cause her as much pain as possible and when she is begging for death to take her I will sweep life out from beneath her before she even knows it" she whispered between sobs.
She stood up and turned her head in my direction and notice I was awake again. Within second she was next to me, pulling me up by my neck.
"Trust me I when I say I will make this painful" her voice, cold and hard like steel, whispered in my ear.
Then she threw me against the wall with all her strength and before the darkness could take me she was punching and kicking me against the wall.
Naru's POV
The shack was just outside the village and showed no signs that there was an entrance.
I had taken one step towards it when a thump sounded from inside it followed by a scream.
Mai's scream.
With that painful scream my body started shaking, no one had come with me so no one could stop me using my powers. I blew a hole in the side of the shack and when the dust had cleared I peered inside. The walls where dark with old and fresh blood, an old torn up couch was turned upside down and looked as if it had been thrown against the wall in a fit of fury. At the other side of the room there was a dark object curled up on itself, slowly it stretched out and moaned softly, it was Mai.
I raced over to her; her skin was covered in cut and bruises most of the fresh and still bleeding, her eyes slowly found mine.
"Naru" she croaked softly her eyes filled with tears
"Don't worry I'll get you out of here and somewhere safe, she's never going to hurt you again as long as I live"
"NARU! SHES BEHIND YOU" she screamed suddenly.
Naru's POV
I turned and found myself looking at Ayu, her body vibrated with fury and anguish.
I stood up my body shaking violently, the air around me suddenly full of wind.
"You will never hurt her again"
"Yeah you and what army or in case you didn't notice you came alone" Ayu said with a smirk and it was that smirk that pushed me over the edge.
I released my powers on her, using all of my force to completely destroy her forever.
When I reopened my eyes the room was full of glowing light all rising to the sky.
"Oliver" A voice called softly, full of joy and love, I turned and found myself face to face with my brother.
"Gene" I whispered, my eyes slowly took him in and now I could understand how Mai confused him with me. A gentle soft golden glow started to circle him, he was finally moving on.
"I guess my work is done here Oliver" he whispered "I hope you live out the rest of your life happy" he said looking in Mai's direction and within seconds he was gone along with the rest of the spirits.
"Nar-"Mai started then stopped and when I turned round she had fainted and before I could even reach her I too fainted.
Mai's POV
I was too scared to open my eyes because if I did then I would find myself back in the shack with Ayu but that beeping noise was really annoying.
Slowly I opened my eyes and instead of the bloodstained walls I found pure white walls, I looked down and saw I was in bed and my arms covered in gauze and wires.
A slight shift in weight on my bed told me I was not alone; I looked to my right and saw Naru with his head on the bed asleep.
His eyes fluttered open, confused at first then they focused and saw me.
"Mai, thank god your awake" he gently wrapped his arms around me and kissed my head "I was beginning to think you where never going to wake up" he whispered in my ear, tears streaming down his cheeks.
"How long was I out for?" I croaked
"Two months any longer and you wouldn't have made it" he pulled back and looked me straight in the eye "I thought I was going to lose you when I woke up and you where still out of it and to be honest I can't live without you anymore"
Naru's POV
It's been two years since Ayu and now Mai is well enough to go out so I've booked us a table in the fanciest restaurant in Japan to celebrate her nineteenth birthday and because I want to ask her something personal.
Mai's POV
We had both finished eating and where now waiting for the check. I had to admit it was nice to go out for my birthday as the one before I had to stay in bed for.
"Mai" a voice whispered pulling me away from my thoughts and when I looked up Naru was down on one knee next to me, a black velvet box in his hand.
"Mai" he took in a deep breath "Will you marry me?" he asked as he opened the box to a small beautiful diamond ring.
The end.