RRS.3

Hiya! Wow guys! You have no idea how ecstatic I am for this story.

*Maihime = Literally means 'Dance' and 'Princess'... but you can think of it as 'Dancing Princess.'

Chapter Three: My Memory

Normal POV

Later that night

How much it surprised Minori Tsukiyomi that Mai Taniyama was losing her touch would never be known. What happened to the Maihime? She thought as Mai walked away to base, Naru at her side. Minori slowly closed her eyes, frustration showing on her face. Everything she had worked to turn Mai into had suddenly gone to waste. She's gotten soft... and we have to fix it.

She would talk to Mai at dinner tonight... Hopefully, when Mai's scythe partner returned to her hands, she'd return to being the Maihime.

Minori strolled into base, intent on holding Mai to her word. Mai, who had been speaking to Ayako moments before Minori walked in, suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

"Mai? What's wrong?" Ayako asked.

Mai furrowed her brows. "What?" She called in the direction of the door; sensing the presence of Minori's soul.

"Huh?" SPR stopped working to see what Mai was doing.

Minori stepped inside base. "Still as perceptive as always." She sighed. Ever since Mai lost her scythe, she relied more on her sense to protect herself.

"Minori... you're disturbing my work..." Mai whined childishly. "Not that I care!" She added quickly. "But a certain narcissist would kill me if he found me slacking off. Death by tea!" The brunette cried dramatically. SPR's Irregulars laughed heartily.

Minori chuckled at her friend's eccentric behavior. "I'm only here to make sure you keep your word about dinner tonight." She said semi-seriously, trying to show Mai her point without alerting the rest of the team.

Mai's face darkened slightly, showing her friend that she had caught on. "Of course! I am a woman of my word." She mimicked the true statement.

The elder of the two dropped her large smile. "Good! We have a lot to talk about, Maihime..." She sent her friend a glance over her shoulder as she exited the room.

"Maihime?" Someone questioned.

Mai's face had darkened considerably, knowing what her friend wanted to discuss at dinner. "It's a nickname. I'm known as Mai, Maiko, and Maihime." She said quietly. "I just like to keep things short." The brunette's chocolate brown eyes were no longer bright and laughing. "Dinner's gonna last a lifetime if she decided to use Maihime though..." She muttered to herself.

Only a certain narcissist heard her. "Why is Maihime so special?" He questioned from his place at the monitors being set up.

Mai jumped, not expecting someone to have heard her. But now all of SPR was curious, and was expecting an answer. Mai's face was grim as she sat down on the couch, shuffling through files and organizing them. "Let's just say it's not a very nice nickname around here." The teenager answered vaguely.

Naru almost asked her what she meant, but Bou-san, seeing that Mai didn't want to talk about it, interrupted him. "Naru-bou, where do you want this camera?" He held up a particularly large one.

The CEO of SPR turned in his chair to look at the Monk. "The pool area seems to have a lot of activity, so we'll place one there." He folded his pale hands together and balanced them atop a black-clad knee. This brought an almost sickening contrast to the outfit.

"Ah..." Mai said suddenly. "Wasn't that where the some of the children are most active?" She inquired, purposely leaving out the Lady in White. She didn't particularly enjoy talking about the woman.

"Along with the Lady." Mai grimaced. "We'll isolate the camera so that the guests can't touch it." A curt nod was sent in the monk's direction, giving him his cue to begin working. "Ms. Hara, please take Ms. Matsuzaki with you and walk around the most active parts of the ship. Report back if you sense anything."

Lin passed the elegant medium a walkie-talkie. The teen merely bobbed her head in agreement to Naru's request, short and black hair swishing around it softly.

"What should I do, mate?" John questioned suddenly.

Naru turned to him. "You may go and assist Takigawa in his task. He might need help balancing the camera while trying to bar off the public."

The angel-faced priest merely nodded his head and smiled before walking off. Mai, Lin, and Naru were now alone in base.

"Mai." Naru suddenly called, distracting the girl from her work.

"Yes?" She asked, noticing his calculating gaze on her.

"Takigawa moved a table inside while you were seeing that vision already." He pointed out, nodding to her hands.

Oh... Naru is suggesting that I work there instead. Mai thought. Her gaze slowly traveled to the thin table on metal stands against the wall. "Oh." Mai blinked.

The brunette quickly gathered the papers scattered carelessly around her and took them to the table. When she turned to thank Naru, he was already assisting Lin with the cables for the monitors. The teenager shrugged this off and began her work again.

Soon enough though, as predicted of her, Mai's thoughts began to wonder. Her black and white ballpoint pen began tapping the table relentlessly as brown eyes stared blankly down at the file Yasu composed days ago. She seemed to be concentrating on the file at first glance, but looking into her usually chestnut eyes told you something else entirely. Especially since they seemed to have taken on a coffee-like color with where her thoughts were leading her.

Maihime... The Shinigami thought carefully. The alias given to me by the Association for Controlling the Enigmatic Society. Or the ACE Society. An even shorter term would be the ACES. Mai bit her lip. A place for controlling Shinigami with mysterious abilities or insane amounts of powers.

Does Minori think I have to go back there? The tapping of her pen suddenly stopped as she looked up at the blank wall in front of her. No... I can't go back. I'm already trapped in their grip.

"How can I go back to something I never even escaped?" Mai whispered to herself hoarsely.

The ACE Society is getting impatient. I still haven't found my scythe, and the deadline is the end of next month. It's only the second today... Mai began tapping the pen again in frustration as the stress caught up with her. No good. The brunette suddenly stood up and began pacing, her hand on her chin. I'm panicking...

The girl's shoulders shuddered with the next breath she took. If I don't find my scythe, I can't control my abilities. On the other hand, if I do find it... what happens?

"Oh my god..." Mai muttered, eyes wide as she stared blankly at the wall before her. "The Society will immediately take me back." In frustration, Mai snapped the pen in her right hand... only using her thumb. "How could I be so stupid?!" Mai hissed before suddenly slamming a fist on the desk beside her. "This is a lose-lose situation! I can't believe I didn't notice in the past ten months!" Her hands immediately went to rubbing her temples.

If I go back to the Society, I'll have to leave SPR. But if I stay here, the other ACES might hunt me down, putting everyone in danger of being reaped in order to keep them quiet. Oh my god! What if their names are already in the Book?!

Mai began pacing the room again, her face stony.

And staying with SPR means letting my powers get out of control... I'll either be burned out or driven insane at this rate! Nothing anyone could do would help to control them!

Mai pinched the bridge of her nose as her foot rapped on the floor impatiently; a habit she had picked up from Naru.

So I either risk killing myself and my makeshift family, or I go back to the Society when my scythe is back... for all eternity.

As Mai weighed her options, she stared down at her hands, willing them to tell her which option would weigh more heavily on her conscious and shoulders.

Killing everyone or becoming the Maihime again for the Society for all eternity... Which one do I choose? The only bright side to the first option is that the Society might leave everyone alone and just snatch me away. Does that mean I should just wait for the Society to find me, and then escape when they do? Would they come after me only or go for SPR?

And worst of all... If I never find my scythe... won't the Society come for me anyway?

Mai buried her face in her hands as she thought. Her only true escapes were to leave SPR... or stop working as a Shinigami.

But the moment she did that... She'd die. Again.

Mai let out a bitter laugh. What was she trying to do here?

Of course I have to find my scythe! My scythe is my partner.

"It's not like I could leave her at the bottom of some lake in Japan." Mai mumbled dully to herself. "The Society would definitely kill me then."

But leaving SPR means not having enough money to travel around Japan... Meaning less and less of a chance of actually being able to find it.

"And my only means of flying is the thing I need to find. At least flying that way was free..." Mai rubbed her temples. "I need help!" Mai decided suddenly. "And it'll have to be Minori's."

"Mai... as amusing it is to watch you talk to yourself and pace in frustration, you need to go back to work." Came a cool voice from across the room.

The brunette's head snapped into that direction so quickly that Naru was surprised she didn't get whiplash. "How much did you hear?" She asked suddenly, no emotion played on her face. It was the same look she gave Lin in the airport.

"Every word." Naru nodded to himself approvingly. "What's this Society you keep mumbling about? And who is at the bottom of a lake?" He questioned, cold tanzanite eyes clashing fiercely with amber ones. The second questioned was what irked him the most.

Mai waved a hand. "The Society? Oh, just something my dad used to do. As for the lake..." Mai bit her lip as tears welled into her eyes. "My twin sister is at the bottom of one..." She whispered, her cinnamon colored fringe making shadows dance over the top half of her face.

And worst of all... she's still trapped in her weapon form.

Dun dun dun! Mai's twin sister is actually her scythe?! WOAH! Mind blowing right? Not if you've ever seen Soul Eater. XD I'm totally using the same concept! R&R dearies!

Sorry this chapter is so short guys! ): But I needed that cliffie. XD

~Crescent T.