Ciao Poveglia
Rated: T
Shibuya Paranormal Research receives a special invitation to a 'psychic summit' being hosted at the infamously haunted Poveglia island. Though crossing half the globe with his team is not ideal, Naru simply cannot pass up the chance to get into the normally locked down location. [Rated T, possibly M for gore later.]
000
Day Two
"You certainly didn't waste any time today. You should be like this more often." Naru stood sipping his tea while he stared at Mai with minimal interest. She was seated at the small table kitchen table, booting up one of the office laptops.
Mai had just come from the Nakamura's. The rain only sprinkled on her as she picked up the order of tea from the shop, thankfully, but it still hadn't been a pleasant trip. The woman in orange had been back again, but this time, she was halfway up the shrine steps. Mai probably wouldn't have noticed her if she hadn't felt so uncomfortably warm as she walked by.
"Naru, what do you know about the Yamado shrine?" Mai asked, ignoring his quip. She had come in and immediately put tea on for him without even a prompt and then sat down to get to work. Something was going on over at the shrine, she could feel it.
"There isn't much to tell about it," Naru said, more willing to talk now that his hands were busy with a warm cup of tea. "It's old, but certainly not one of the oldest shrines. It was built nearly one hundred years ago when the area was starting to grow. Though it received plenty of traffic, the steps were difficult for many people, especially the elderly, and Takegaru shrine started to take over. Over the years, it's simply withered away to almost nothing. The property isn't large enough to intrigue real estate agents—tearing down a shrine is a great deal of paperwork that most people aren't willing to go through."
Mai scrolled through images that had come up in her search box and hummed. Naru was right—the property itself was very small. Most of it was tree lined hill sides that ran parallel to the major street. If someone were to buy it and tear it down, they would have to do a lot of work to level it out. No wonder it had been left alone as the area around it started to change.
"Why haven't we ever investigated it? It's just down the street from us."
She felt like has looking at her as if she were crazy. When he didn't answer, she furrowed her brows and glared at him. She knew that look. It was the are you stupid, Mai?
"I'm serious, Naru! Why haven't we ever checked it out?"
"We check out locations with clients, Mai. Paying clients. No one from the shrine has ever approached us. There has never been any sort of claim of paranormal activity at the shrine, beyond the usual mystical lore. Why are you suddenly interested in the Yamado shrine anyways?" Naru's eyes narrowed and she swallowed hard. He knew that she was hiding something.
If she told him about the odd woman in orange, she may have to tell him about the pain she felt when she walked by—and that was a conversation she didn't care to have. He would probably think she was being overly paranoid and just hoping something would happen to break up their lag in cases.
"The Nakamura's," she said after a moment, "the Nakamura's said that the shrine was broken into, so they have to hold onto all of the scrolls that were housed in it to keep them from getting damaged in the rain. I just… think it's weird, that's all."
"You think it's weird that a group of trouble makers broke into a shrine, probably looking for a gold idol, or something like that?" Naru asked, setting his tea down on the table and crossing his arms. He didn't buy it, she could tell.
"No, I mean, the scrolls were weird," she said, hoping her quick amendment would cover her.
There was a flicker of something across Naru's eyes. She couldn't tell what it was, exactly. For a moment, she thought that maybe it was… disappointment. He picked up his tea.
"Then maybe I should pay a visit to the Nakamura's as see these weird scrolls," he turned his back to her and turned to go into the office's back room. "Finish the agenda for tomorrow's meeting. You can leave after that."
She watched his back as he entered the room then shut the door, blocking the two of them off from one another. Usually, getting an early pass to go home was such a blessing. Today, it felt like a punishment. Mai looked at the computer screen and closed out of the search window. It was probably nothing. There was no reason to look into it if Naru didn't think the shrine was worth investigating.
000
Day Three, Hour 14:32
"—if you had been paying attention, then maybe he wouldn't have—"
"—Oh, there it is, it's my fault. Why is it that whenever—"
"—you can't keep your wandering eyes to your—"
"—eyes? I wasn't doing a damn thing! She was at least six months pregnant—"
"—once a woman's pregnant, she's suddenly unattractive? You're—"
Mai just stood silently, her jaw slowly dropping the longer Monk and Ayako stood in the main room of SPR arguing. They hadn't even seemed to have noticed her, instead opting to shout at one another. Ayako was holding a red shoe with a broken heel, waving it around and coming dangerously close to Monk's head.
"Um, guys?"
"Not now, Mai," Ayako snapped, not taking her eyes off her on-again-off-again boyfriend as she waved the shoe in Mai's directions.
"Yes, now," Naru's voice said from over Mai's shoulder. She hadn't even heard him walk up, though with all of the shouting, she supposed she wasn't exactly surprised.
Naru's entrance may have been enough to cause Monk to clasp his mouth shut, but it wasn't enough for Ayako. In fact, it may have only made things worse. "Oh don't give me any of your crap, Naru. These meetings are pointless lately, you could have just called us instead of dragging us all of the way out here."
"Call you? No, that would be quite impossible since Mai insisted that we go investigate the Yamado shrine," he said coolly.
Mai didn't need to see Ayako's disgusted look to know she too felt it was a fruitless endevour. Mai whipped around, turning so fast that the teapot on her tray started to slide. It would have fallen to the floor and shattered if Naru hadn't quickly snagged it by its handle. "Woah, Naru, I did not—"
"Yes, Mai seems to be sure that the recent break in is paranormal and has to do with weird scrolls so here we are, going to go out in the pouring rain with all of our expensive equipment—"
"Naru, stop," Mai shouted and stomped her foot like a child. He raised a brow and looked down upon her, and she then actually felt like a child.
Ayako and Monk both looked suddenly concerned. It wasn't because of the case, but because of Naru's reaction. They also knew him well enough to know that he was intentionally trying to rile up their young friend and 'pseudo –daughter', and it went beyond his usual teasing.
And they were right. The icy look he was giving her made Mai want to cry—but she was an eighteen year old woman and she wouldn't allow that to happen. Instead, she would walk away from the situation calmly.
Well she would have, if Naru hadn't done it first. "The meeting is canceled," he said and disappeared into the back room.
The three remaining looked at one another in confusion.
"Mai, what was that about?" Monk asked, stepping up to place hand on Mai's shoulder. The effect was immediate, and she felt much better.
She shook her head and shrugged. "I don't know. I just… Since he's been back, he's just been… Well, you know…"
They didn't really need to say it. Though he wouldn't go into the details, finding his twin brother's body had certainly taken its toll of the young man. Mai had hoped for months that he would return. He had given her the key to SPR and she continued to look after it—not as a business or anything, just doing some basic housekeeping. Though they hadn't left on very good terms, she figured the fact that he continued to renew the lease instead of letting it terminate meant something.
They had only been on one case since his return, and it was rather lack luster. She hadn't been very helpful and she had barely spoken to Naru. She felt awkward and unsure of what to say, and he typically ignored her, especially when others were around. Only recently had his normal teasing resumed, and she had to wonder if it was because he was bored and mostly—alone.
The door to the office opened and in came a smiling John. "Hey guys! I thought I would be late! Look who I found!" He side stepped, though he didn't really need to. They could see the towering Lin behind him anyhow.
"Lin, you're back!" Monk said brightly, though he received barely more than a nod from the Chinese male.
"You guys didn't miss much," Ayako said with a sigh, dropping her broken heel on the edge of the coffee table rug, "Naru has apparently decided to cancel the meeting, so we came all the way out here for nothing."
John tilted his head to the side. Oh John, nothing seemed to get to him. He looked more concerned than angry. "Why would he do that?"
"Where's Naru?" Link asked, looking at Mai. She shrugged and shook her head with a frown, jabbing her thumb in the direction of the back room."
Link hauled his suitcase in behind him and went to the back, ignoring everyone else's inquiring comments.
Naru had come a bit over a month before Lin. He had promised Lin that he wouldn't take any cases until Lin was back from England as well, but he hadn't kept that promise. Mai knew that Lin was more than a little upset with Naru.
"Mai, why don't you bring that tea over here and tell us what really happened with the shrine," Ayako said and sat down on the black leather couch. Monk squeezed Mai's shoulder and then went to join the red headed woman, their previous argument apparently forgotten.
"I… feel like I missed something," John said, looking between his teammates and then shrugging. He took one of the matching, cushy leather chairs and looked to Mai for an explanation.
She sighed and picked up the tray of tea again, walking it over to the coffee table. She poured three cups for the others but didn't pour any for herself. Naru's little outburst had left a rather bad taste in her mouth.
"It's just… all so stupid," Mai said and sat back in the remaining leather chair, slouching a little bit. "I just wanted to know why we hadn't ever looked into Yamado shrine and it led to… all of that."
"Nothing sparked Naru to try to rile you up?" Monk asked, although Mai knew it was because he doubted she was telling the whole truth.
"I just… I didn't want him to freak out, you know? I don't want to get taken off cases because he thinks I'm a danger magnet, you know?" Mai asked, and all three of her teammates nodded. They were nodding because they agreed she was a trouble magnet. Ugh. "I went on a tea run two days ago, and there was this strange woman standing at the foot of the steps to the shrine. She was just staring up the stairs—she didn't move or anything. If I hadn't seen her lit cigarette, I would have thought she turned into a statue." Or a ghost, she thought, but didn't say.
"Did she do something to hurt you?" Ayako asked, sitting forward suddenly.
Mai shook her head quickly, but then stopped and gazed off. Did the woman hurt her? "I can't really explain it… It was pouring out, you know? Just like it has been… I walked by her and I suddenly felt very hot—like boiling. I thought… I thought I was going to explode. I looked up the term I was thinking about. Internal combustion. It only lasted for a moment, but it was terrifying."
She would leave out the zombie like state she entered into after, if only to keep the concern down. That was probably nothing more than her normal absentmindedness.
"So, really, it was the woman who you wanted to investigate, not the shrine?" Monk asked, still not understanding Mai's train of thought. She couldn't really blame him.
"I guess. But I just feel like it has to do with the shrine—you know how I get my feelings. I feel like the woman was there because of the shrine. She… was there yesterday too. But yesterday when I saw her, she was half way up the steps. Just standing there." Mai shrugged and looked down, playing with the hem of her shirt.
John stood after no one said anything for a few moments. "Well, let's go then! I'm still not entirely sure what happened before I got here, but it couldn't hurt to just go look, right? Maybe the woman's there, maybe she isn't."
Ayako sighed loudly. "We might as well. My hair's already a mess and my day can't get much worse than a broken heel on a one hundred and thirty dollar pair of shoes."
"But how will you walk, Ayako?" Mai asked. The red headed woman waved her off.
"Please. I know better than to leave the house without a back up pair of shoes. They may be sandals and it may be wet and cold, but it's better than nothing." She reached into her large, designer purse and pulled out a pair of red flip flops. Monk rolled his eyes, but thankfully for them, she couldn't see it.
"I guess we can go, if you guys really don't mind. It could be nothing. I just want to check it out," Mai said.
"Do you think we should invite Lin and Naru?" John asked and looked over at the closed door.
Mai thought for a moment but shook her head. "No, let them go. We can do this on our own. Besides, he said the meeting is canceled, and the two of them probably have some… things… to discuss."
"Then let's go!" Monk jumped up and grabbed his coat from the rack, throwing it over his shoulders and opening the door to head downstairs for the others.
Mai smiled at him. At least some things never change.
000
Author's Notes: I know. Right now, you're probably thinking 1) what does any of this have to do with Poveglia and 2) how long until she stops updating this one too? Well, the answer to number one is easy… The group has to actually get invited to go to the meeting first, and I want to line up the current character dynamic so that you know the situation going into the main story. The answer to number two is not as easy… basically…. Until I get bored/until people stop reviewing. I have promised myself that I will only update once I have the chapter after written to keep me from hitting a road block after so many chapters are posted.
I have a pretty definite image of how the plot is going to be laid out. I know the primary progression from start to finish, for once, so I'm hoping that will help me continue. Unfortunately, I know that very few of my friends are into this fandom, so it isn't likely that I will have a beta reader. If things seem inconsistent, or you pick up on spelling/grammar mistakes, I apologize. I'm the only one seeing this before it's posted, and sometimes I miss things!
My goal is to have most of this done before Halloween, which means I have to have most of it written before I go overseas because I will just be getting home a few days before Halloween! We will see what happens!
Thanks for reading!
Ever Your Servant,
A.F
