Disclaimer: We don't own Ghost hunt!
Twisted Fate
Mai's heart felt like it stopped for a few moment. Furrowing her brows, she looked between her two friends and Linda, the woman beside her.
"I don't understand what you mean. Why are you being so rude? It's not nice you know." She mumbled sadly. Keiko glanced at Michiru before taking a step towards Mai and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Mai... Maybe you should lay down and rest somewhere..."
Glaring a little, Mai shifted away from her hand. "We can sleep when we get back to the hotel." She muttered in disappointment. It wasn't funny watching her friends act like this. She was just glad they were talking in Japanese instead of English so Linda wouldn't hear what they were saying. She didn't want to upset the now happier woman. Though she did feel kinda rude for talking in a different language the woman couldn't understand. Turning to her, Mai smiled. "Lead the way." She urged. Linda smiled brightly and nodded. She began walking only a moment after.
"So what are you doing here?" Her voice was still excited—it was almost child-like.
"In England you mean?" Mai asked just to be sure. She nodded.
"Of course!"
"Well, my class is here for an excursion." She gently smiled at Linda. The woman laughed.
"I see. Are you enjoying yourself?"
"So far? Yes, it's wonderful!" Mai smiled brightly. Smiling happily, Linda nodded.
"I see. That's good then. I hope you haven't been lost too many times. That would hardly be any fun." She joked easily.
"Aha... Yeah...that would be bad." Mai laughed sheepishly, not wanting to mention she had gotten lost earlier that day as well. The smile Mai got in return was an amused knowing one, but Linda didn't bring it up. It was actually very kind of her.
"Well, I hope you continue to enjoy you're stay here." Linda replied. Mai grinned at her.
"Thank-you! I'm sure I will. Everything's so different." She gushed. She gave a quick glance behind her to see Keiko and Michiru following them a little ways back, muttering quietly to each other. Trying to focus on Linda, she blocked them out of her mind. She could talk to them later. "Thank you again for taking us back."
Linda beamed. "I promise it's no trouble. In fact we're nearly there." She stated, pointing ahead at a building. Mai blinked, looking towards the building, before smiling in relief.
"Thanks so much."
Linda laughed lightly at the girl showing her appreciation once again. "Not a problem." As the building got closer, Mai turned to her and stopped walking.
"Really, thank-you."
"Really." Linda emphasized, placing a hand on Mai's shoulder, causing her to shiver from the touch for some odd reason. "It's fine. I had nothing to do anyways—it was a pleasure."
Smiling, Mai thanked her one last time before she continued walking to the hotel, not checking to see if her friends were following her—she assumed they would be. When they would get back into their room, she'd teach them to use their manners! She couldn't believe they stuck with the notion that Linda wasn't standing right there in front of their eyes. Honestly, she thought that they knew better than that. They couldn't lie to her and say Linda wasn't there when she saw her with her own eyes. It just wasn't possible. So the answer was clearly that they refused to see her. The question was why though. What did they gain from pretending that Linda didn't exist? In fact why did everyone do that? From the way Linda had acted when she first met her, Mai knew that no one seemed to pay attention to the woman. It had angered Mai more than she had been in a long time.
She turned around when she heard Keiko's and Michiru's voices coming closer. They seemed to be talking about something to do with her seeing as the closer they got, the quieter they became. With a huff, Mai walked to the elevator. She'd wait until they were in their room to yell at them. She wasn't about to make a scene when the teachers were probably worried sick. Speaking of which, she should probably inform the teachers that they were back...if they even noticed they had been missing. If they had, they were sure to be worried. There was a strong chance that Michiru, Keiko and herself would be scolded. Mai mentally groaned. She wasn't even her fault though, she had just been following her friends.
With a sigh, she turned to the doors of the elevator and forced herself to walk inside. No use in prolonging her fate was there?
Keiko and Michiru silently followed behind her. It was awkward to stand there in silence—weird music playing in the background. It made it harder for Mai to keep up her angry expression at her friends. Thankfully she couldn't dwell on the subject any longer due to the elevator doors opening a moment later. Arms crossed, she strode out of the small closed-in area and made her way to where the teachers would be—in their rooms. As she opened the door, they immediately turned to look at the trio.
"Girls!" One of their teachers cried out in relief. "Where on earth have you three been?!"
Keiko looked at her sheepishly. "We got a little lost and distracted." She explained.
"A little lost?" The teacher questioned in disbelief. "You were missing for hours!"
Michiru gulped. "We couldn't figure out how to get back..."
"Yeah, but thankfully I found a lady who helped us." Mai said, not noticing the worried glances her friends were giving each other. The teacher's eyebrows shot up.
"A nice lady? I do hope you thanked her."
"Well, I did." Mai muttered under her breath, shooting glares at Keiko and Michiru. Her friends tried to look guilty, but honestly they were worried about Mai.
Their teacher sighed. "Never mind, girls; the important thing is you're back safely. Go to your rooms for bed—your dinners are already there."
Mai nodded, but as she turned to leave, Michiru spoke up. "Ah, actually Miss Fujimoto, can Keiko and I speak to you after we eat?" She asked quietly. The older woman gave a nod.
"Of course, whatever you need."
Keiko seemed to be relieved as she nodded. "I guess we'll just go eat first." She stated awkwardly. She and Michiru turned around to leave with Mai, but they found that she was already gone. Glancing at each other, they sighed. It figures that she would have left them like that. She'd been acting strange ever since they got lost. Perhaps she was having some odd symptoms of being homesick? It didn't sound right, but they weren't about to accuse her of going mad. They would just wait and see what the teacher had to say about it.
Walking up to their room, they opened the door and sat down on their beds. The food had been placed on a small bedside table for them. They saw that Mai's meal was half eaten and she wasn't in the room. But from the sound of water running, they knew she was taking a shower. Sighing, Michiru picked up some of her own meal and started to eat.
"Let's be quick. We have to speak to the teacher still."
Keiko nodded in agreement. "Yeah... I just wish I knew what was up with her. She's never acted so strange before!"
Michiru looked at her friend. "I wish I knew how to help, but I honestly don't understand. I mean she even got us back to the hotel!"
Keiko frowned in deep thought. "Yeah... How did she do that?"
"I mean she's always getting lost, so how did she manage to get us back here? Not that I'm complaining, but it's really weird..."
"You don't...you don't think she was seeing a ghost do you?!" Keiko's eyes widened in horror. Michiru tried to laugh it off nervously.
"O-of course not. Don't be ridiculous."
Without a response, Keiko looked down at her food, uneasy. "I don't feel too hungry anymore." She whispered. Michiru grabbed her friend's plate and begin to eat off it too.
"What?" She asked, seeing the look on Keiko's face. "Just because you don't want to doesn't mean I can't. I eat when I'm worried." She shrugged a shoulder. Keiko rolled her eyes.
"Are you sure you aren't the one going crazy? How can you be eating at a time like this?"
"There's no good in letting it go to waste..." Michiru grumbled. Ignoring her friend, Keiko began walking back to the door.
"Come on. We have to speak to Miss Fujimoto, remember? Before Mai realises."
"But I'm not done yet! Just a few more minutes?" Michiru begged, giving the puppy dog eyes. Of course she was worried sick about Mai, but she also hadn't ate all day long. Thinking it over for a minute, Keiko couldn't help but smile.
"Whatever. Just be quick." She said. Her friend nodded, and within a few minutes, she was done. Walking out of the room, Keiko looked over at her friend and giggled. "You have food on your face." She teased in an attempt to lighten the mood. Michiru blinked in surprise, a small blush dusting her cheeks, as she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. Continuing their way to the teacher, they both paused for a moment before walking inside. This was for Mai's sake. When they walked in, they saw Miss Fujimoto waiting for them.
"Girls. What did you wish to speak about?"
The girls glanced at each other before nodding. "Mai." They answered. The teacher's eyebrow shot up.
"What about her? Is something wrong?" She asked. Keiko shifted on her feet awkwardly.
"Well...when we were lost...Mai had claimed of meeting this woman who just wasn't there. She kept talking to no one right in front of us!" She blurted worriedly. Michiru nodded in agreement.
"Yeah. She kept talking to this lady, calling her Linda and walking around with her while we followed. Neither Keiko nor I could see anyone there though!" She agreed.
"She kept trying to get me and Michiru to talk to the woman too..."
Watching them careful, the teacher tried to distinguish if they were lying or if they were speaking the truth. Surely this was all just a prank?
"Girls..." She began. "You can't think that I'll believe that, can you?"
Frowning Keiko sighed. "But it's true! Please, you have to help us. We don't know what to do!" She exclaimed.
"Miss Fujimoto, Mai won't even speak to us because she's so mad at us for 'ignoring' this woman she was seeing!" Michiru exclaimed, distressed. "You have to believe us!"
Still watching them carefully, the teacher was slightly worried. They seemed to be telling the truth. But how could it be that Mai was seeing someone—and talking to her—when the other two hadn't? Had Mai gotten injured and perhaps been having hallucinations? Or maybe she was still tired?
"It's really odd... She said the woman was going to show us the way back here and then she started to walk. So Michiru and I followed her...the next thing we knew, we made it back to the hotel!" Keiko cried, her expression showing just how worried and scared she was. "But none of us knew how to get back!"
Miss Fujimoto's eyes widened. "Are you sure, girls? Mai had to come from the hotel earlier so maybe she remembered some of the way back." She suggested, trying to make it sound as if she was more confident in her reply then she was. Both of the girls vehemently shook their heads.
"Mai's terrible with directions. If she doesn't go there everyday, she usually gets lost and has to ask for help." Keiko explained. Miss Fujimoto pondered over it for a few moments.
"So what do you suggest is wrong, girls?" She asked finally.
"I-I...I'm not sure." Keiko confessed. "But something is wrong with her!"
Michiru nodded seriously in agreement. "Can't you talk to her at least, Miss Fuijimoto?" She asked. Nodding slightly, their teacher gave in.
"It's late, girls. Go to bed and I'll discuss this with Mai tomorrow. Surely it's just something like lack of sleep." She assured them as best as she could. She guided them to the door while they nodded slowly, taking in what she said.
"See you in the morning." Keiko stated with a small smile.
"Goodnight, girls." Their teacher said. Turning to walk back to their room, Michiru looked over at her friend.
"Do you think that Miss Fujimoto can help Mai?"
Keiko sighed. "I don't know... I just hope so."
"I'm worried about her. She's never acted like this before."
"I know..." Keiko muttered quietly. Groaning, Michiru placed her arms behind her head as she walked.
"Do you think there's anything we can do to help?"
Keiko was silent for a couple of minutes, thinking. "I think if we try, Mai's just going to get mad at us even more... But she needs to know that where wasn't anyone there she was talking to."
Standing in front of their door, both girls sighed. "I know, but it just doesn't seem right to tell her that nothing was in front of her." Michiru felt conflicted over their predicament. If they did the right thing, it would hurt Mai's feelings, but if they didn't and something was really wrong then they would be responsible.
"Let's just not talk about it anymore tonight..." Keiko said, feeling uneasy. Something seemed off.
Naruisawesome: Poor Mai...
MzShellSan: Her friends and teachers now think she's crazy.
Naruisawesome: *shrugs* Maybe she is starting to.
MzShellSan: *pulls on NIA's cheeks harshly* Will you be quiet?! Ignore her everyone, and please review instead. ^_^
