Hello there! Neena here :D, updated faster than last time, and thank you again to my wonderful beta! Couldn't have done it without you! Anywhoozer, read, enjoy, and review - because that's the most important part besides the actual reading part :D
I continued to scream, even as the back of my throat grew raw and scratchy. My footing, which had been steady earlier, slipped and I fell backwards, my spine colliding painfully with the wet bathtub floor. Pain exploded in the back of my head, right at the base where my neck connected to my skull.
"Get out…!"
Those were the last words I heard before sinking into the black realm of unconsciousness. It could have been seconds, minutes or even hours before I became somewhat wary of my surroundings. I couldn't tell; my mind was too foggy.
"Mai…"
That's Naru's voice… Somehow I managed to recognize it through my hazy state. But it's too soft to be Naru…that means… The dull aching in the back of my head brought me through my mist of confusion and I sat up. "Gene." I was sitting in the realm of my dreams, just floating in the nothingness.
Naru's twin, standing in front of me, gave me a soft, warm smile that reached his eyes as he held out a hand for me to grasp. "Be careful, your head must be aching quite badly."
"It's fine," I winced, cradling the back of my skull with a hand, "I can manage; it's not that bad."
Gene sent me a worried look, of which I waved off with a grin.
"Really, it's okay." Even though he didn't look convinced, I stood up and faced him fully. "Now, you want to show me something, right?"
The concerned man raised his arm and made a sweeping motion, the scenery beneath us changing as he did; silently, I watched the flashes of the past.
I was looking down into a dark, traditional styled Japanese room. A man was lying in a large futon with a woman curled into his side— my face turned red when I realized that beneath the covers, they were most certainly naked.
"Koizumi…are you sure she won't be coming in here?" the woman asked quietly, turning her head up to look at her lover. He placed a hand on her blanketed waist and drew random patterns on it.
"No, but as I told you, it isn't a marriage out of love. She won't be able to say anything even if she does happen to see us together." He laughed bitterly as he brought the woman closer to him.
She looked down, almost seeming to feel guilty. "I know, but still, I feel bad for her…"
The man's jaw clenched as his woman whispered the words feebly. "Don't. She knows I don't love her, so you're not taking anything from her. All she has is the title; she's never once had my heart. Why would she? She's not nearly as beautiful as other women, or as you."
I gasped at the harsh words; the man was so cruel, so evil, so detestable. By my side, Gene grimaced in agreement.
"Koizumi tries too hard; she's in love with me—but I can't blame her. I've never met a woman who hasn't fallen for me."
"Well now," I huffed, "Who does that sound like?"
Gene snickered quietly, covering his mouth with a fist.
"But still, Susukihotaru-sama…" the woman whispered, obviously not convinced, "since she loves you, what if she does something to me?"
Susukihotaru broke out into muffled, sardonic laughing. "Koizumi? Please, the girl couldn't hurt a fly." His chuckles faded away and his hands curled protectively over the young, timid woman. "Even so, don't worry, I'd protect you even if she did try to hurt you."
That was when something struck me as odd. His tone…it sounded so…
"Meaningful," I murmured. Gene looked at me oddly, his eyes asking a question that didn't need verbalization. "His voice—It sounds like he's telling the truth." And it didn't fit his persona at all.
"Susukihotaru-sama…" the woman murmured, gazing at his face in awe…and lust, it seemed.
I blinked, shying away as the man, Susukihotaru, bore down on his mistress. Gene waved the images away.
"So was that the man who married Akemi-san's great aunt? Susukihotaru-san?" I murmured, my stomach clenching in anger at him.
"Yes, the man who committed suicide." Gene's face grew even darker.
"Mai…" a new, familiar voice echoed around the blueish-purple void that was Gene's and my private world. His eyes snapped to meet mine, and I looked around.
"They're waiting for you; go, and I'll find you later when I have more to show you." Gene smiled so sweetly that it made me feel warm inside. Why couldn't Naru be like that?
"You're so much nicer than your brother," I muttered, to which he grinned and nodded like he agreed.
"Mai…" the voice repeated itself.
"Okay, I'll be going now Gene." I waved at him as he slowly evaporated like grains of sand before my very eyes.
"Mai!"
I gasped, spluttering, panting and sweating as I sat up like a bolt of lightning had electrocuted me down through my spine. The insistent pounding made me wince and bring a hand to the back of my head as if it would ease the pain. It was so much more bearable in my dreams, I noted.
"Mai!" a pair of voices chorused. I looked around through pain-narrowed eyes to see Bou-san on my left and Ayako on my right, both kneeling down beside the futon I was laying alone in.
"Jou-chan, are you okay? What happened?" Bou-san demanded, his face a hard mask that I couldn't read.
"I'm okay…" I whispered, remembering the showering episode. It made my skin crawl. I threw back the covers to glance myself over; no blood to be seen. A sigh drew from my mouth. "Was it…real?" I hoped it had been just an apparition, that I really hadn't been doused in blood.
"Unfortunately, yes," Ayako said cautiously. She reached out and took my hand in hers. "You scared us, Mai! I thought you had been, well, hurt. It was that bad; you were covered from head to toe in…" the priestess trailed off, not wanting to say the word 'blood'. I didn't blame her—I had probably looked like something a wild animal had half-mauled for dinner. "And don't worry, I washed you off myself. Though…Naru was the one who found you and dragged you out of the tub."
"H-he what?" My mouth dropped in horror. My boss had seen me naked? Oh God, if you're there…please just kill me now… Had he seen anything?
"Mai, your face is all red!" Ayako laughed awkwardly, albeit patting my hand with obvious merriment.
"…He saw me?" It was official. My life was over.
"There wasn't much to see."
My panicking came to a sudden halt as the sliding door slammed shut and Naru stepped into the room, holding a cup of tea. He knelt down and held the warm cup out for me to take. How could he be so nice and infuriating at the same time? I swore he was creating some sort of paradox.
"Well thanks I guess…" I muttered as I snatched the cup from him and took a big sip. As I sipped in silence, all parties in the room stared at me, as if expecting something. "What?" I said after staring back owlishly.
"What, exactly, did you do to bring on that little…episode back there?" Bou-san tentatively asked, his tender eyes shining.
Looking down and studying my reflection in the tea, my shoulders slumped and I frowned. "I'm…not sure. I don't think I did anything to anger the spirit that's here, all I did was shower." I looked up at Naru, whose eyes had narrowed; he signalled Lin, sitting right behind him, to start taking notes.
"Did it say anything to you?" Naru studied my face.
"Yes, it told me to 'get out'."
He brought a hand to rub his chin and I took another gulp of warm tea—it wasn't too tasty, I made better tea, but it was better than nothing.
Bou-san snorted. "Must've really liked that shower." He chortled, rocking back on his haunches. Ayako scowled and smacked the back of his head. "Ow, woman…" the monk hissed, glaring at her over his shoulder. "I'm going to file a report against you as an abusive spouse."
With a scoff Ayako grumped, "Please, they'd see it as mere punishment for your being stupid on a countless number of occasions."
"Takigawa-san, Matsuzaki-san, focus," Naru snapped just as Bou-san was about to retaliate, and both of them ceased their bickering immediately. "Mai," his attention returned to me, "what can you tell us about the ghost?"
I rubbed my neck and squinted my eyes, trying to remember through all the dull aching; I needed Motrin, or a painkiller of some sort. The throbbing was very, very distracting. I couldn't think properly. "Ah…" I mumbled. "It sounded like a male voice, that's all I know about it."
"So, it never materialized in front of you? You never saw it?"
Shaking my head, I grumbled a 'no' and then let out an exasperated huff, puffing out my cheeks. "Can I get some medicine or something? My head is killing me!"
Deciding that he probably wasn't going to get anything more out of me, Naru stood and told Lin that he could stop typing for now. "I just gave you medicated tea," he said. "It should kick in soon, you don't need more medicine."
"Oh, so that was why it tasted awful…" My face puckered when the after taste reared its ugly head; it was incredibly bitter and almost stale tasting, I nearly gagged.
"Mai, we'll be leaving now, it's late, get a good nights rest, okay?" the red head in the room announced, hooking her arm with Bou-san's and practically dragging him to the door, protesting all the way. I smiled and waved goodbye, giggling when Bou-san began shouting furiously at his 'wife'.
"I'll be heading out now as well." A laptop clicked shut as Lin made his way to the door.
"Ah, okay Lin-san, sleep well." I grinned, to which he—sort of—smiled back at and tucked his laptop under his arm, leaving the room.
Finally alone, an awkward silence hung in the air between Naru and I, causing me to fidget with the hems of the blankets I was under. Naru picked his book up off the floor, smoothing out the now horribly creased spine, and fingering through the pages till he found the right one. He laid next to me without a word.
T-too close! My mind shouted, making my skull nearly vibrate from aftershocks. Discretely, I reached up to touch my face and see if it was hotter than usual; which it was, I was sporting a full out blush. And all because Naru was sitting next to me in a bed.
Okay, I guess that it would make any girl blush like crazy, after all, Naru wasn't bad looking, and he had a nice build to match his pretty face, and we were in a bed. Together. Alone.
I peeked at him before hiding my face again. How can he be so calm? Really, Naru puzzled me sometimes, or rather, maybe it was just men in general that puzzled me. No, I have no problems with Lin-san, Bou-san, Brown-san and Yasu…Naru's just…a special case I guess. Unfortunately for me. Deciding to peek once more, I glanced in his direction, only to find him staring at me blankly. I gulped and hid again, wishing to just disappear. Of course, a few seconds later, I couldn't help but peep again—he was still staring at me.
"Mai, you're overreacting. The lights aren't even turned off," he bluntly said, and I swear I saw the corners of his mouth twitch like he was hiding a smirk.
"A-are you implying that something will happen when the lights are turned off?" I hissed with a fiery new shade of red dusting my cheeks. Naru just gave me his 'you're such an idiot' look and returned to his book, leaving me to stare at him nervously.
It was like that for hours, me trying to ignore the presence of the stoic male, and him just reading like everything was normal. Surprisingly, it irritated me somewhat; Naru didn't even so much as glance my way—his eyes were glued to the stupid paperback book that he had his nose buried in.
Not that I wanted him to stare at me again, because that was awkward, but maybe I wouldn't have felt so annoyed if he had taken the time to just make eye contact every, I don't know, twenty minutes or so?
Honestly, he's just going to leave me here to die of boredom isn't he? That's so like him, stupid narcissist. I scowled, sinking deeper into the fluffy futon covers, and pulling them up to my chin. Was he ever going to go to bed? I turned on my side, facing the wall instead of him, which didn't really do me any better.
"Are you ever going to sleep?" I asked grumpily. He wasn't the only person in the room; I was tired, so the least he could do was be courteous and go to bed just a teensy bit early tonight. It wouldn't hurt him; really, it wouldn't. In fact, it would probably help him and get rid of that morning monster of his.
"Yes," he replied evenly.
"When?"
"When I feel like it."
I frowned, turning back on my other side to glare at him with sleepy eyes.
"Naru, I'm tired! I want to go to sleep," I whined, to which he actually lowered his novel and made eye contact. We stared at each other for minutes; had I not blinked several times, I would have thought it was a staring contest. Naru sighed, folding the top corner of the page he was on and placing it on the floor.
"I'll get the lights," he mumbled, as he got out of the futon and killed the source of the lights in the room.
"Naru," I yawned as I heard—and felt—him shuffle around. "If you cross over onto my side of the futon, I'll hurt you."
"Duly noted."
"And…I had a dream earlier…you should investigate Susukihotaru-san, the man who…" I yawned again. "…married Akemi-san's great aunt…"
Faintly, I heard him mutter "And now you choose to tell me, after all of our questioning is over…you idiot."
So? How was it? Tell me in your review!
Mahna mahna~! (for those of you who know what that is, kudos to you :D Muppets are awesome!)
