I've read all the reviews from my readers and all I can say is that I love you guys very much! Thanks for supporting this story and giving more reasons to continue this and you guys give me inspiration. Thanks!
Well, anyway, here's the next chapter! You'll be surprised, I hope.
For the past two days, Mai noticed that her former boss hasn't been in the noodle house. She was glad that she doesn't get to see him anymore but she was also sad because she missed him, she still does. Snapping back to reality, she carried out the tray full of freshly cooked noodles to the SPR team. They didn't fight today, something she's not used to. They all said 'thank you' after Mai served them their order. As she sit in a nearby table with her pen and paper, she heard them talking about a case.
"There's not much to go on, why can't Naru see that?" Ayako said.
"He believes that it's not a ghost, it's a demon" John told them before taking a chopstick full of noodles.
"A demon? He said that?" Bou-san almost choked.
"I heard him and Lin-san talking the other day and he said that it was a demon" John answered.
"Well, demon or not, I'll enjoy this free time as much as I can. Knowing Naru, once he has enough information, he'll put us all back to work" Ayako said as she poured a lot of hot sauce on her bowl.
"I agree" Yasuhara said.
Bou-san sighed and everyone looked at him, "This will be so much easier if Jou-chan was here."
"Yeah, Mai's dreams helps out the most" Yasuhara agreed.
The group continued eating their noodles while Mai continued with her unfinished song. But now, she couldn't concentrate. After finding out that there was no ghost, that whatever was hunting the beach house was a demon. She couldn't help but worry about her friends. What if they got hurt? What if… Mai shook her head and continued writing on her paper.
That I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around
Baby I was naïve
Got lost in your eyes
And never really had a chance
My mistake, I didn't know how to be in love
You had to fight to have the upper hand
I had so many dreams
About you and me
Happy endings
Now I know
When she turned her head to check the costumers, she was greeted by a warm smile from Kakashi's face, who was only 2 inches away from her. "Kyah!" she screamed in surprised and fell off the chair. She looked up and saw her boss laughing at her, she turned her head towards the team and saw them looking down at her. "Don't do that, Kakashi-kun, you'll scare me to death!" she said with annoyance in her voice as she rub her butt, standing up. "What's this? Is this for the festival next week?" Kakashi asked as he read the paper. "What? What festival?" Mai asked in a panic. "The Sakura Festival, to celebrate the blossoming of the Sakura trees in this town that attracts the tourists" Kakashi explained. "That's next week already?" Mai asked again. Kakashi nodded in reply. "So, is this for the festival? Are you performing at the show?" he asked. "Well, not really" she said and sat back down on the chair. "Oh? Why not?" he asked. "First, it's not done yet and second, it's kind a personal" she explained. "Personal? Well that makes everything better then. People in this town would like to hear a song like that" Kakashi told her and sat down on the chair beside her. "You think so?" Kakashi nodded in reply. "Well, I guess I have to finish it soon" she sighed. Kakashi looked at her and smiled, "Don't you have a back up?" Mai looked at him and shook her head. "Oh… well, I'll leave for now so you can finish this up" he said and left.
That night, Mai went home to her small house. When she opened the small gate, she saw a bouquet of red roses on her doormat. She went to pick it up and saw the card fell out. She picked the card out and read the note. "To Mai, Forgive me, From N" she said. "N?" she thought about it for a minute before thrashing the roses to the garbage can by the gate. 'Who does he think he is?' she though. She stomped her way inside her house, locking the door behind and went straight to her bed. "Urgghhh!" she screamed at her pillow. She sat up and went to her dining table. She took out the same pen and paper from earlier and released her anger on it.
I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet
Lead her up the stairwell
This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down
Now it's too late for you and your white horse to come around
She fell asleep on the table and woke up the next day. She was woken up by a knock on the door. She thought that maybe if she ignores it, it will leave, but she was wrong. There was another knock and another and another. Growling in anger, she opened the door and saw…
"What are you doing here? How'd you even find out where I live?" she asked angrily.
"All I had to do was ask"
"Davis-san, this is not a good time, no time is a good time, could you leave now?"
"Mai, I came here for help" he said bluntly.
"Why do you need my help for? Oh wait… it's about the case at the beach house, right?"
Naru nodded in reply.
"As you, Davis-san, I'm a busy woman. I don't have time to be a bait for the demon in that house" she said, hoping that it was enough to drive him away.
"A noodle house server, I see how busy you are"
Mai was angered by his answer, "It's better than being around, Davis-san, at least I don't have to worry about my life being put into danger."
Naru sighed, he knelt down in front of her. He was sucking up all his pride right now, just to get her back, "Mai, please, I'm begging you" he begged.
No response.
"Whatever I did back then was a huge mistake, alright? I'm sorry for that. But can't we forget that for now? This demon is dangerous. I know you still care for the team, at least do this for them."
All Naru got as a response was a loud banging by the closed door. He sighed in defeat and decided to leave. When he turned, he saw his assistant looking at him. "Well?" Lin asked. "It's obvious, isn't it?" Noll answered. As they walk along the street, back to the beach house, they ran into Kakashi, who was in a hurry. "Gomen" Kakashi apologized before continuing to Mai's house.
When Mai slammed the door into Naru's face, she slid down to the floor as tears started flowing down her cheeks. "Baka! Baka! Baka!" she screamed. She texted her boss, telling him that she's not available to work today. "Huge mistake my ass…" she whispered. She heard a knock on the door, she made no attempt to answer it until she heard her boss' voice. "Mai-chan? Are you there? Are you alright?" Mai hesitantly opened the door and ran straight to his awaiting arms. "Mai…" he whispered. Mai kept on crying on his chest as he soothe her back. "Shhh… let's go inside and talk about whatever this is" Kakashi said. Mai nodded and went inside. Neither of them noticed the 2 pairs of eyes watching them.
Once inside, Kakashi sat next to Mai on the couch. She was still crying but not as much as before. "So, tell me what's wrong" he said. Mai told him about what happened and her past. She told him that she was the famous singer eMTy and the boy from the beach was her former boss. "He's definitely a jerk" Kakashi said as he hugged Mai closer to his body. "Can we not talk about this anymore?" she asked. Kakashi nodded. She walked back to her table and saw her pen and paper. She took a deep breath before finishing the song.
And there you are on your knees
Begging for forgiveness, begging for me
Just like I always wanted but I'm so sorry
Cause' I'm not your princess, this ain't a fairytale
I'm gonna find someone someday who might actually treat me well
This is a big world, that was a small town
There in my rear view mirror disappearing no
And it's too late for you and your white horse
Now it's too late for you and your white horse to catch me now
Oh, whoa, whoa, whoa
Try and catch me now
Oh, it's too late
To catch me now
By the time she finished the song, she was crying again. Kakashi was already next to her, trying to calm her down. She leaned into his hug, snuggling closer to his warm body. Soon, Kakashi noticed that she fell asleep. 'There's only one way to end her suffering' a voice said in Kakashi's mind. 'No! Not her' Kakashi argued. 'She's perfect, my Kakashi, I'll be satisfied for two years with her power' the voice said again. 'I told you, I will not let you have Mai as a sacrifice' he mentally told the voice. 'It's too late for that now, Kakashi, 1 year too late, you know that. The moment you brought her at the beach house was the moment I marked her as the sacrifice. There's no escaping that. You and I both know it.' Kakashi shook his head, 'The ghost hunters will stop you.' No answer.
Kakashi's eyes widened as he stared into a wall. He saw a vision of what Mai would look like after the sacrifice. On the floor was Mai's body. Hair all over, eyes wide open in fear, blood trail on her lips. She was wearing his favorite white dress that she always wear on her Friday shift. This time it was stained with blood that was coming out of her chest. He noticed the dagger still inside her.
'STOP!' he mentally yelled.
'There's no escaping, Kakashi, once you've seen the vision, there's no changing that'
'Watch me'
'I will, I'll be back soon, Kakashi dear. On your 25th birthday, be ready to see her die…'
The voice in his head vanished. He was sweating and he was clutching Mai's arm a little tighter than before. He looked down at the small form beside him and saw her beautiful face. A tear slid down from his left eye, landing on Mai's cheek. 'I will not let anyone harm you. I promise you that. I'll die first' he promised as he buried his face on her soft hair.
ooooohhh! Kakashi...
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