HBC: Chapter two of the Rewritten version of a Family that Hunts Together Stays Together! Enjoy!

Chapter two: Jet lag

"Mommy, will you tell me a story.

"What story?"

"The one about the demon and the young woman."

Five days later, all of SPR were seated comfortably on a private plan. They had no time to talk over the past few weeks and the others wanted to get information out of Mai as Naru went to talk with the pilot.

"So does anyone want to guess why Naru took this case?" Yasuhara said casually.

Mai looked around for any sign of Naru, he wasn't there. "It was obvious that Naru knows that girl. I mean she threatened him and he didn't do anything about it."

"That is true." Ayako said. "Maybe they grew up together."

Mai nodded.

Bou-san grinned, "Maybe they're a couple."

Mai grimaced as did Masako, but they said nothing.

"I doubt. She acted like she knew him but not like that. Naru acted like he didn't want her near him." Mai finally said.

"They had a falling out?" Yasuhara suggested.

"I doubt it, 'Umiko' sounds she's way out of Naru's league." Masako added her tidbit.

"Shibuya!" They heard a voice yell from inside the plane. "Hurry up! I want to get at least some sleep on the plane before we head home." Umiko's cheerful voice sounded up from the cockpit.

There was a pause. The others assumed that it was Naru talking to Umiko.

"I don't care about you 'precious' equipment! I want to go home, and if you stall this plane any longer I won't get that wish! Now go to your seat and sit down."

Another pause, "Kazuya. Sit. Down. Now," Umiko demand, grinding out her words from between her teeth.

There was another pause before both Naru and Umiko walked backed into the narrow aisle of the plane and take their seats. Naru sat right next to Lin and Umiko sat in the seat right a crossed the aisle. The others had fallen into an uneasy silence. They were waiting for someone to break the uneasy quiet. No one would because they were too afraid of Umiko.

"Umiko-san, can you tell us more about the case?" Mai asked, being the brave one and asking her the question that was bringing across the sea.

She looked thoughtful for a moment before replying. "In my neighborhood, there is a lovely old mansion that is right across the street from my family's home. The mansion is on the edge of our small town so they're fields surrounding it. It's kind of creepy if ya' think about it. The mansion maybe lovely but it's run down and the lawn is overgrown, and the trees around it seem to have faces on them at night."

Umiko paused and shivered at the thought. "There is a legend that the land that the mansion was built on was cursed. I had asked around town and looked in the court's archives for it and I found several variations for it. All of them having the same theme to them: an unhappy young woman in her twenties summoned a demon forth and cursed the land. Now at the beginning of every new cycle of the moon the demon demands a sacrifice."

Umiko stopped her story to talk a breath of air and listen to the flight attendant list the things one needs to do in case of emergency. When she was finished Umiko continued.

"The elders of the town have actually banded people from approaching the house just to be cautious. In order to make sure of that they put policemen around the house and they have boarded up every inch of it. They have construction workers check on the boards every once and awhile to make sure they stay that way. Basically, the house is off limits."

"They're a bunch of superstitious people aren't they?" Yasuhara asked.

"Sometimes it pays to be superstitious." Bou-san said.

"It does but only if it has some sort of meaning to it. My mother used to go to church because she felt closer to her mother, my grandmother that way." Umiko said.

"But most of the time it doesn't. Praying and hoping won't help unless you will it too. The elders they slipped didn't, they?" Naru said.

"Something like that. The elders sold the house to this rich developer and he started to renovate the mansion. The developer was planning on turning it into a hotel or bed and breakfast, I forget which. Anyway, he brought his girlfriend in the house and it killed her."

"Killed her?" Naru asked in shock.

Umiko nodded her head solemnly. "The girlfriend was literally torn to shreds and put on display on the front lawn."

The other shivered. "What a horrible way to die." Mai said, understandingly. She still has nightmares about the case that Madoka had requested.

"Hey just think that, if anything serious happens we can just have Ayako investigate the mansion for us. She's old enough that the demon won't go near her." Bou-san said, earning smiles and laughter all around.

Ayako hit Bou-san over the head and started an argument with him. They continued the shouting match while the other looked at them with amusement.

The plane was settling over the ocean, and the moon was appearing high over head. It was a beautiful night, but it went unnoticed by the others on the plane.

"Please someone help us!" A voice rang out.

Extra: Permanent Marker

Mai woke as she heard someone move about. Opening her large brown eyes, she saw Umiko leaning over Naru. The sharp smell of markers was still in the air. "Umiko-San what are you doing?" Mai asked.

Umiko put a finger to her lips and looked at Mai. "Shh, everyone's asleep." She whispered quietly, pointing her head towards Lin.

Mai looked around before unbuckling her seatbelt. Getting up she walked the short way to where Umiko was standing. "What are you do-" Mai felt a hand on her mouth. Umiko had pressed her free hand to Mai's mouth.

"Don't say a word. I wanna see how he reacts when he wakes up." Umiko threatened light heartedly, smiling.

Mai felt the corners of her mouth twitch in a smile and once Umiko removed her hand. Mai said, "Can I help?"

Umiko smirked. "Of course, do you want the pink or aqua?"

"Pink," Mai said, grabbing the bright color. Revenge has never been sweeter…or colorful.