Ok, wow, I have no excuse for not posting this, just my laziness... D: I'm very sorry! I have 8 chapters written, so please just wait a bit longer and I'll try to update regularly, ok? Gah! I don't deserve your reviews! (but I'd still like them very, very much .)
The interior of Jinsei no Haru was exquisite, the entire design flawless, leaving me in awe as I stared at the simple, yet elegant traditional design. Naru and Lin, however, seemed to have seen better, and followed coolly after our host, but I couldn't help but stare with wonder. The walls were barely visible underneath a massive blanket of old paintings—various portraiture, ancient family photos, and beautiful landscapes. My eyes were drawn to one of a soft, pink cherry blossom twig with a small, yellow and black Townsend Warbler elegantly perched on it.
"Beautiful artwork…." Ayako murmured, echoing my own thoughts.
I nodded in agreement, still gazing at it even as I walked past. Akemi caught me staring at the pictures.
"Most of these paintings were done by my great aunt," she said, a lingering appreciation in her eyes. "She really loved to paint or at least so I've heard."
"Akemi-san, is this an old family photograph?" I asked as I pointed to a picture of a young couple, a solemn man and a particularly sad-looking woman, sitting side by side, two paintings away from the Townsend Warbler.
"Ah, yes, well coincidentally, the woman is my great aunt, the one who commissioned all the paintings." Akemi joined me beneath the photograph, studying it in silence. Something began to gnaw in the back of my mind, a strange feeling that I couldn't shake or place—but it was probably nothing, I was paranoid; the pictures I had seen yesterday were to blame.
"She looks so sad…" I murmured. Akemi's great aunt stared outwards with a distant loneliness. The man had a similar expression, although he didn't give off the same kind of sadness. Instead,he radiated something akin to…boredom?
"Well, yes, I suppose she had every right to be. After all, she was in an arranged marriage with an alcoholic gambler that frequently cheated on her." Akemi's face became tinted with sorrow and hatred.
"How awful…" I whispered, sympathy strong in my voice.
Akemi nodded. "I take heart in the fact that she didn't suffer forever. A few years after their marriage, her husband was found dead in the hot spring; boiled to death and nearly unrecognizable."
I gasped, bringing a hand to my mouth.
"It was ruled as an accidental suicide; the autopsy revealed massive amounts of alcohol in his system, so the police came to the conclusion that he was drunk, slipped, and fell into the spring when it was at its highest temperature—one hundred degrees Celsius."
"Sixty-six degrees," Bou-san murmured astonishedly, "is enough to create an awful burn in two seconds…and you said the water was one hundred degrees? How long was he there?" he asked quickly and Akemi's eyes took on a distressed tone.
"The whole night until my great aunt discovered him and reported it…" Her tone was stressed, she obviously didn't feel like speaking on the subject any longer.
"Hey," Ayako snapped, also picking up on Akemi's distress. "Can't you see that she's uncomfortable?"
Bou-san jumped at the sudden burst from his 'wife' before he held up his hands defensively.
"Shibuya-san, it's alright." Akemi smiled, patting my shoulder as she saw my expression, which was full of unmasked concern.
Shibuya-san? Confusion clouded my mind. Wh—…oh, that's right. I'm 'Shibuya' Mai. It took me a minute to realize that Akemi was talking me, rather than Naru. I'll never get used to that! Inwardly, I sighed, but I returned Akemi's smile heartily.
"Oh, goodness, we certainly got side tracked, didn't we? I apologize. If you'll please follow me I'll lead you to the check in."
Thus, we were on our way again, finding the counter quickly. I kept my eyes away from the familial portraits as best I could; knowing about that awful man's demise made me want to resist from looking at him for too long—for some reason it just gave me the creeps to look at the portrait of a deceased suicide victim. I didn't know if it was only me who felt like that, but everyone else seemed to move right along as if nothing had happened.
"Now," Akemi led us to an oak table in the rear of the main hallway. She stepped behind and dug out a pencil. "How many rooms did you say you needed? Three?"
Naru moved to the front, pushing me behind him as he took care of the preparations. "Yes, two of the married suites and one party suite for Lin and our equipment." Naru motioned to the tall Chinese man in his seemingly permanent spot in the very back of the group.
"Very well, and I hate to ask, but may I see your marriage licenses? It is strictly protocol to prevent any mishaps, whatever they may be."
Mishaps? I thought to myself curiously. What kind of…mishaps?
"Of course." Naru opened his black jacket and pulled out two manila envelopes.
"Only you would keep envelopes in your jacket…got any stamps? Maybe a post office in there, too?" I murmured to myself quietly, causing Bou-san to snicker behind me, followed by a groan of pain as Ayako, I assumed, elbowed him in the ribs.
Akemi opened the first envelope, scanned the license, and set it aside to write something on her notepad. She repeated it with the second license.
"You're all set, and since I've hired you to do business, everything is free, courtesy of the resort. So please enjoy yourselves while you are working." She handed back the enclosed licenses with a polite smile—one that would knock normal men off of their feet. Naru, however, was immune—not that I was complaining or anything—and took back the envelopes with an impassive face.
"While that is appreciated Akemi-san," Naru said solemnly, "I'm afraid I won't let the team relax while they are working, however—"
"You mean everything?" Bou-san asked excitedly, nearly bouncing up and down like a child.
"Yes," Akemi laughed lightly at his enthusiasm, "everything. Now, your rooms are in the east corridor, all the way in the back. I've ensured that the guests in that area have been moved at least two rooms away from all of yours so you may work efficiently."
Naru nodded his head then glared over his shoulder at Bou-san.
"All of your belongings have been taken to your rooms, and the equipment has been taken to the party suit, as per your request."
"Thank you for your concerns, we will be leaving now," Naru said politely.
I don't get it! Why is he so polite to everyone except for those he personally knows? Naru…I swear, sometimes you make me so mad I could…I could…actually; I don't know what I could do. As lame as that was, it was probably true; the most I could do to Naru would be to yell at him. I wouldn't have the guts to do anything rash like Ayako certainly would. Though, sometimes, I wished I could do something like put toothpaste in his shampoo or put salt in his tea instead of sugar—I wished I could do something like that. But no, my very nature just wouldn't permit it.
I glared at the back of my boss' head as we walked. He was just too…perfect. It irked me. Severely… I added in thought. It made me want to toss something at him.
"Mai, don't stare at me," Naru suddenly spoke, catching me off guard completely.
"H-how did you know I was…?"
"People can't help but stare at perfection."
My eyebrow twitched.
"For the record, I noticed you have dandruff. So you, Mr. Perfection, might want to get that checked."
Maybe it wasn't too late to be gutsy. Score one for Bad Mai.
Day 1, 8:00 pm
I stared at the room. This couldn't be happening… The duffel bag I was holding dropped to the floor.
No…you can not be serious! I stared in dismay as Naru opened the sliding door and prodded me in the back with a finger.
"Is it necessary to stand right in front of the door?" he snapped, shouldering me aside and setting his own belongings on the floor next to the closet.
"Naru…what's wrong with this picture?" I asked calmly, despite my inner turmoil, and waved my hand about the room.
He took a seat on the single, double sized futon in the middle of the room and looked at me. "Your belongings, thrown carelessly on the floor. Pick them up," he said, opening his own bag to take out a book, leaning back on one of the pillows to read. I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed.
"No, other than that…why is there only one futon?"
Naru glanced at me with a look I knew well—it was his 'I-knew-you-were-stupid-but-this-is-unbelievable' look. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"Mai, this suite is for married couples. Do you think married couples sleep on different futons?" Naru's tone made me feel like an elementary level student who needed lecturing; he always made me feel like that.
"B-but still! Couldn't you have come up with some story as to why we can't share a futon?" I huffed, flustered. Obviously he didn't see a problem with how things were arranged. Just because he doesn't care doesn't mean that I have to lower my standards! I fumed silently to myself.
"No, I cant, because after your little slip up today, coming up with another story would be suspicious." Naru didn't look up at me, thankfully—as my face was red from anger and embarrassment—and simply turned a page in his book. Muttering nonsensical threats to myself, I kicked my duffel bag out of the way and moved to sit on the very edge of the futon, opposite of where Naru was laying.
"I'm taking a shower, so don't you dare peek at me," I announced, snatching my pajamas and toiletries, stalking off to the bathroom. Naru never answered me; he just continued reading his book.
The bathroom was nice. It was slightly more western styled than the rest of Jinsei no Haru, but it fit. The little hand carved soaps were adorable—they made me giggle like an old crone. They almost look like candies! I smiled, picking one up and smelling it before putting it back in its place with about ten others just like it. Each one had a specific scent; the lavender was my favorite. I'm definitely using that later! Finally pulling myself away from the miniature soaps, I started the shower water and stripped down. After a long day of driving, the water felt amazingly soothing to me, dealing with aches I didn't even know I had. That's the power of the hot springs. I sighed in contentedness and lathered my favorite satin and pink coral shampoo into my mousy brown hair.
"Get out…"
My scrubbing ceased, and through the hot water my body went cold."Naru?" I called out curiously.
"What?" he answered, muffled by the falling water of the shower head and the sliding door separating us.
"Nothing," I said. "I must be imagining things." I laughed nervously and continued with scrubbing the shampoo into my hair. Yeah, imagining things, that's all. I'm just paranoid. Keep washing Mai; you're fine.
"Get out…"
My body froze for the second time. That definitely wasn't Naru, and I definitely wasn't just paranoid. My heart rate accelerated so fast that I thought it might leap out of my throat and onto the bottom of the bathtub. My already cold body went numb.
"Get out…"
I closed my eyes as my abandoned shampooing left suds able to run onto my face and into my eyes. Calm yourself Taniyama—I mean Shibuya—Mai! Calm down! My body was shaking and I had to brace myself on the slippery porcelain wall of the shower so I wouldn't slip.
"Get out!"
My eyes snapped open and through the burn of the soap, I squinted down at my feet. A scream caught in my throat as I stood there, frozen. The steaming hot water had turned to ice.
I wasn't standing in water anymore; the normal pools of hot spring water that gathered at my feet had turned red. I looked up at the shower nozzle—it was spurting more red, sticky water.
Only, it wasn't water. It was blood. I was showering in blood.
The scream that had been trapped in my throat burst free like water through a dam.
Thanks for reading chapter 2! I'll try and update regularly, so please don't be angry, I'm not very good with commitment.
Love,
Neena