Chapter Two: A Change of Heart
Saturday, February 14th
7:07 PM
It started raining heavily an hour ago. Hopeless romantics would think of it as something… Well, romantic. Blame it on the media influenced ideas: those under the rain kissing scenes or sharing the umbrella with one's partner. But for Mai, the rain only made her mood even more melancholy. Sadly, she wasn't able to buy Naru anything…
The doorknob twisted slowly and the door creaked open. Mai squinted, hoping to enter the office without a sound. This way she would not have to let Naru know that she was back - this way, she doesn't need to face him, not today at least. But it was dark in the office and not one person, not even Lin was inside. 'Perhaps Lin and Naru went out to dinner?' A train of ridiculous thoughts came into Mai's mind. She then slapped herself. She has been having weird imaginations this whole month.
She switched the lights on and saw a mountain of packed chocolates overflowing the trash can, all of them addressed to Naru. "What an insensitive guy" Mai mumbled and rolled her eyes. This is one of the reasons why she has been troubled. If she were to give Naru some chocolates, would he appreciate them? Or would her chocolates be among those sitting in the trash bin? If there was one thing most people fear about confessions, that would have to be rejection - and Taniyama Mai just happened to be one of those people.
The girl threw herself to the couch, together with the package she picked up a while ago. She planned to rewrap it and visit the man at the hospital. She was deciding if she would return it to him or if she would offer to deliver the item herself to his wife. However the situation will go, she was happy to help. If Cupid or St. Valentine could not provide a miracle for her this Valentines Day, she would create a miracle for this man – to become someone else's Cupid.
Slowly, Mai took off the wrapper to take a better look at the doll inside. Once the wrapper was off, she was able to see the whole doll while in its transparent box. She furrowed her eyebrows at the doll, her eyes still creeping her out. After a few moments of looking at the doll, she sighed and said "His wife must be as beautiful as this doll…" Denying the fact that her eyes do look scary at some point.
A thought came to her. She imagined herself wearing a pretty dress and wondering what would Naru say about her.
"If only I were as pretty as you… Maybe Naru would like me. Maybe I wouldn't be spending Valentines Day alone in the office" she told the doll.
Suddenly, Mai's surroundings seemed to be too quiet… Too quiet that she couldn't hear the clock ticking, or the raindrops falling on the rooftop. She did not notice it at first until a soft hissing sound was heard and the temperature dropped. Not long, Mai heard another sound other than the hissing noise. It sounded like a woman gasping for air. Out of nowhere, she felt cold hands wrapped around her neck. Fear danced up on her spine as her face turned a ghostly white. She was paralyzed, too scared to the point that she can't even face the unknown.
"I can make a miracle for you…" it said. Then, a bright red light filled the office and once the light had faded, the ticking of the clock and the raindrops falling on the rooftop can be heard again.
Saturday, February 14th
8:43 PM
The city streets were packed with people despite the rainy weather they were having, most of them were couples enjoying the company of their corresponding significant other. Naru and Lin walked briskly into the hospital building to avoid the Valentines Day bug. Inside the hospital however, were a number of families celebrating with each other. "Valentines Day is everywhere" Naru complained to Lin while the latter merely nodded. Both of them boarded onto the elevator, rushing to meet their client.
1… 2… 3… 4… 5… 6… 7 and the elevator door was opened for them. Their client said that he needed to talk to them immediately; that he had some very urgent matters to discuss. Both Lin and Naru felt uneasy; their client failed to meet them earlier - Instead, he got into some accident while on his way to the SRP building. After walking through rows and rows of hospital rooms, they finally reached room 203, where their client said he was. Lin knocked on the door gently before entering. Inside, a man with bandages around his head and his leg laid straight in bed. Both Lin and Naru paid their respect to the elderly man by bowing and by greeting him a good evening. The man looked at Naru in confusion.
"What is wrong, Takamura-san?" Naru asked the man. The man tried to smile a bit, despite the minor injuries on his face.
"It's nothing… It's just that, as president of the SPR… Well, I expected someone much older than you" Mr. Takamura, the man, said. Naru cleared his throat. He thought he had already gotten used to receiving comments such as these but he still feels insulted about it.
"Anyway…" Naru continued, avoiding the topic. "Would you please tell us what happened to your daughter?" he continued, asking Mr. Takamura with honest concern. Lin prepared to take down notes of the events.
"Please have a seat first" the man offered while trying to refresh his mind about the horrifying happenings. Both Naru and Lin took a sit next to the man's bed with all ears.
The man coughed and then started his story with a terrified look on his face.
"It all started when my daughter, Madoka brought that doll to the house. At that time she… had a crush on her school's basketball team captain - I think his name was Ryu. She started behaving differently, telling me that she will die if he didn't love her" Tears rolled down Takamura's cheeks. Even if it was painful for him to remember what has happened to Madoka, he still needed to tell them the story.
"We had so many arguments with each other… I didn't like Ryu - I told her he wasn't meant for her but she insisted" Mr. Takamura paused for a moment, sniffing.
"And then-" he continued, "That night, she told me that she was going to confess to him and tell him everything. Madoka… She ran outside without even asking my permission" More tears fell from the man's eyes. Naru looked at him with concern and offered a glass of water.
"When she arrived home, she locked herself in the room and started crying. I didn't know… I didn't know what happened. She stayed in her room crying all night… It was only late morning when the her door was opened" Mr. Takamura took a deep breath. He is having a hard time retelling the story of his daughter's death. Naru glanced at Lin, signaling that the room's doors should be kept closed. Such a case has come to such a personal issue.
Mr. Takamura spoke again. "Madoka was very sick. I thought that she was having a fever so I went to the local pharmacy to buy her some medicine. When I got back, she was struggling to get near the doll. And there, I noticed what was making her sick. Little by little, her whole body became stiff and the texture of her skin seemed to look like a doll's. Her eyes… Her eyes looked as if they were all black and it looked as if they were hollow" Mr. Takamura trembled. What he saw was truly horrifying. Up until now, he can not explain how his daughter suffered.
"And then… and then…" the old man trembled even more.
"Takamura-san, it's alright… Please take your time" Naru interrupted.
"No! We can not!" Mr. Takamura suddenly raised his voice. Naru looked at Lin for a while and then turned back to Mr. Takamura's panicked state. "This isn't the end of the problem!"
"While the police was at my house, I wrapped the doll up so that the police wouldn't suspect anything. I hurriedly rode my bicycle. I – I… Called you at that time, I told you I was on my way to the SPR building" the man said all this in a hurry, hesitating a bit because of some grave news he had to tell the two gentlemen.
"When I got into an accident, the box was left at the streets. And then there was this girl - She had short brown hair and brown eyes as well. Skinny and this tall" Mr. Takamura predicted the girl's height with his hands and added a bit more descriptions such as her clothing, her hair length… Naru widened his eyes. This specific character Mr. Takamura is describing seems awfully familiar. He looked at Lin who also had a perplexed expression on his face.
"She took the box" Mr. Takamura finally spilled the beans. With what they've heard, Naru and Lin gasped in great shock and worry and stormed outside of the room.
'Mai… ' Naru whispered to himself.
Saturday, February 14th
9:02 PM
Naru and Lin slowly opened the door leading to their office in the SPR building. Silently, the two of them entered the room perhaps expecting an ambush from a malignant ghost. After what they've heard from Mr. Takamura, their main concern is Mai. Who knows what could have happened to her with that doll? Although Naru crossed his fingers, hoping that he was wrong. He had hopes that Mai would just be asleep or watching the television.
"I feel a dark aura…" Lin said as he opened up the lights to see what they're up against.
As the lights filled the room, both Lin and Naru saw Mai at the other corner of the office. The girl had a pretty dress on and she had obviously prepared herself for Naru's arrival. Naru looked at her in the eye as she drew closer, Lin on position to protect Naru in case anything bad happens. The first thing Naru noticed wasn't Mai's pretty dress or the way she did her hair - it wasn't how beautiful she looked as well. But he noticed how empty her eyes looked.
"I've been waiting… Waiting patiently to be loved back… Naru" the possessed Mai whispered, followed by an angry thunder.
- END OF CHAPTER -
Author's Note: In this chapter, I've added some of my own characters. I hope this would answer most of your questions from the previous chapter.
For the next chapter: The rest of the SPR team will finally make their appearance as Mai exposes her feelings towards Naru while being possessed by a heartbroken ghost. Naru and Lin takes on an intensive reasearch about the said ghost - Stay tuned for some action!