Okay, here's chapter 4. Read AN at the end for a revelation that I think I made.
Mai could've sworn that Naru was the best person to give the cold shoulder that she had ever met. The fact that he could make the temperature drop without even trying probably made it all the worse. She gave a soft sigh before turning her attention back to the screens. After she had teased him on behalf of Gene he had been pouting. And she had no one to talk to and get a reply, even if it was an insult.
She felt a shiver go down his spine. She looked over her shoulder and she felt her eyes widen. Standing in the middle of the room was the woman from before.
"N-Naru…" Mai stammered as Naru stood up and pulled her out of her seat. She felt her heart beating loudly as he moved her away from the monitors and into a corner with his body shielding her from the ghost's red eyes.
"Mai, what did she do last time?" he asked. He wasn't looking at her she realized but at the ghost. She felt her body shaking before she locked eyes with the ghost and she felt her body freeze. "Mai?"
"H-Her…eyes…" she whispered before suddenly Naru pulled her away from the wall. She screamed as a table crashed into the wall where they were standing. She looked at the splintered remains of the table as her body began shaking again before the door burst open and she looked up. Lin and Madoka dashed in, carrying a camera, and were looking at the two teenagers worriedly.
"What happened?!" Madoka cried as she made her way over to the two. Naru barely turned around in time to catch Mai as her legs gave beneath her. She gave a soft sob as he set her down in one of the nearby chairs. She felt the sobs in her throat but they just wouldn't come out.
"We met the resident 'Lady'. She gave us a rather…warm welcome." Naru told them as he studied Mai as she sat there not saying anything. He frowned. Why was she reacting like this? She'd already seen the apparition, or so Antoinette had said. He reached out and shook her shoulder and she looked up at him wide eyed.
"Oh, tea, right?" she stood up from her chair and stumbled to the small kitchen that they had set up to make tea and sandwiches. She realized her hands were shaking and she clutched her skirt as she waited for the water to boil so that she could add the tea. She looked over her shoulder as she felt someone squeeze her shoulder. Madoka was looking at her worried.
"Mai, are you alright? You're shaking like a leaf." she said. Mai managed to give a shaky smile and a small nod.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little shaken. I mean…this has to be a record. A ghost hasn't tried to kill me twice in a day before." Mai whispered. Madoka wrapped her arm around Mai's shoulder. Mai laid her head down on the older woman's shoulder and felt the comfort of the woman's arm.
"There's the whistle. I'm going to help Lin set the camera up." Madoka said. Mai managed a nod before she began to prepare the tea with a much steadier hand. She took the teacup and poured the liquid inside. She made her way over to Naru and he took it from her and she gave him a shaky smile.
"Hey, Naru!" Mai turned around to see Ayako and Masako returning. And from the pale quality of Masako's face she had seen the ghosts.
"There's been so many deaths on this boat. And they are all trying to communicate with me. But it's just a jumble of words. I do know that this could be like the Morishita case." Masako whispered and Mai nodded. She could see that. Especially with the female ghost that kept showing up and trying to kill them.
"I believe it might be a good idea for everyone to exercise in different parts of the boat." Ayako suggested and Naru thought for a moment before nodding.
"Yes. When Brown-san and Takigawa-san, you will need to prepare." Naru said finally. Ayako nodded as they waited for the other two to show up so that they could get the show on the road.
"Is everyone ready?" Madoka asked over the microphone. She looked around and saw Lin sitting in a chair nearby. Naru had told them that he was taking Mai to Gene's grave during the exorcism. Everyone knew that it was more than just a visit to the older boy's grave. It was an attempt to get Mai away from the boat. Antoinette had taken Masako to the hotel so that the medium wouldn't have to watch.
"Let's do this." Ayako said. Madoka turned the mike off and took a step back. She watched as they each began their own version of an exorcism. Madoka watched them as they continued. Suddenly the boat gave a lurch and she stumbled forward. She felt Lin by her side and she looked at him curiously as he watched the screens.
"The spirits are getting agitated." Madoka whispered. Lin nodded in agreement as the boat continued to lurch. Madoka grabbed onto the table that the monitors were on. She felt her stomach doing turns. She had never been really good with moving boats at all.
"Leave me alone!!! LEAVE ME ALONE!!!" a voice wailed and Madoka looked over her shoulder for the source of the voice. There was nothing there before the boat gave another jerk and she would have stumbled headfirst into the monitors if Lin hadn't grabbed her arm.
"AHH!!" Madoka screamed as she felt something around her ankle and then she was pulled down on the floor and away from Lin. She cried out as she felt Lin grab her wrist and pulled her away from whatever had her ankle. She looked over her shoulder and saw that nothing was there.
"Are you alright, Madoka?" he asked and she managed to nod. She winced as she pulled her ankle up so that she could touch it. She looked at Lin with a wince before turning back to her quickly swelling ankle.
"I think my ankle is hurt." she whispered. "Here, help me up." she said and he stood up and held his hand out. She grabbed it and he pulled her up. She didn't last very long as her ankle gave beneath her weight and she fell right into Lin's arms.
"What's going on?" Takigawa's voice called over the communication speakers. Lin carried Madoka over to the chair and sat her down before going over to the microphone and pushing the button.
"The exorcisms is only agitating the spirits." Lin said. Soon after John stopped his and Ayako followed example. "You all need to get back to base, now." Lin ordered and he watched as each of them quickly left the room that they had been assigned. He turned back towards Madoka and knelt down in front of her. He saw her blush as he gently pulled his shoe off and prodded her swollen ankle. It didn't look worse than when she had broken her ankle earlier that year.
"You should be able to walk on it again in a few hours. It looks worse than it actually his." he told her and she just nodded with a smile on her face. She reached out and gently stroked his face and he reached up and took her hand and gave her that smile that he reserved for her.
"What happened?!" Ayako cried as she dashed into the room. Lin pulled away quickly and Madoka watched him out of the corner of her eye as the others made a big fuss over her because of the sprained ankle.
"It looks like the ghost isn't very picky about who it hurts as long as it hurts someone." Lin said. Ayako gave a soft sigh before she knelt down and looked at Madoka's ankle before nodding.
"Your ankle is sprained. Do you know where Antoinette keeps her first aide kit? I need to wrap this as soon as I can." Ayako said. Madoka nodded before she pointed to a box that was hanging on the wall. Ayako went over and got the first aide kit. A few moments later Madoka's ankle was wrapped tightly and she was limping around.
"We're back!!" Mai hopped into the room looking happy. Everyone smiled at the smile on her face. Naru followed her into the base looking slightly sour. Madoka laughed as she saw that Mai had a large stuffed bear under one arm and cotton candy in the other hand.
"There was a fair on the way back from visiting Gene. Luella and Martin insisted that we stop." Mai said brightly. Madoka felt a grin spread across her face as she looked at Naru. She saw his eyes widen slightly at her grin.
"Did you take Mai-chan to the fair, Noll?" she asked. He glared at her before stalking over to the monitors and sitting down. He opened the case folder and refused to say anything else. Mai giggle as she set the bear and her treat down.
"Thank you, Naru." she whispered to him. She saw him look at her before a gentle smile flitted across his face. She felt a blush spread across her face as the look disappeared and she turned away quickly so no one would see the blush that spread across her entire face.
'It must be because we're in England…right?!' she asked herself before suddenly she felt a tugging on the back of her mind as her eyes began to droop. 'Gene, you pick the worse times.' she thought as her head tilted back and she began to fall. She felt a warmth engulf before she felt into a deep sleep.
Mai found herself standing on the main deck of the boat once again and she turned to see Gene lounging on one of the lounge chairs. She sighed as she realized that he had sunglasses on and a smile on his face.
"You're a nut." she told him as she approached him and he sat up. He chuckled before taking his sunglasses off and they disappeared. She rolled her eyes before she sat down beside him and glanced at his black attire.
"Don't you ever get tired of wearing black?" she asked and he shrugged.
"I can't say anything. It seems that whatever Noll wears I get stuck wearing because that's how you see him. And yes, it gets old. Tell that idiot scientist to get over it and start wearing something other than black. It's dull." Gene said and Mai giggled before the apparitions from before appeared and she looked at Gene curiously.
"I don't know who the main catalyst is but the two figures you see are the ones that had the boat commissioned to be made. They will be the farthest back that you can go unless you investigate the builder. His ghost isn't here, I've tried to contact him." Gene said and Mai nodded in understanding before looking at the woman who suddenly giggled.
"She looks like Antoinette. I guess that shouldn't be surprising considering the fact that she's her great-great grandmother." Mai said before she felt Gene touch her gently on the shoulder and she looked at him.
"There's something you should know about her. She committed suicide because she kept seeing the 'Lady' that everyone is talking about. I'm going to warn you as there is a couple that may have to go through this. She believed that her husband was in love with someone else after she gave birth to their son." he told her and Mai frowned at the cryptic warning.
"Gene, what's that supposed to mean?!" she cried and he gave her a gentle smile and she knew that she wasn't going to get anything else out of him.
"Keep your eyes open." he told her before she faded away, not understanding what was going on. He had to be the most annoying person on the planet. One minute he's open and free. The next he starts giving her veiled warnings.
'Wait a minute…the only couple there is…Lin and Madoka!!' Mai though before her consciousness drifted away from her and she fell into a normal sleep.
I was re-reading the Ghost Hunt manga and got to the part where Mai tells Lin off. Her words are "Don't hate me because I'm Japanese or female or an orphan." Lin then proceeds to say those the same words that somone else told him a long time ago. Now everyone thinks it was Gene who said them. But...if they were the exact same words...Gene couldn't have said them. He isn't female. I believe, and if I'm wrong please tell me, that Madoka said that to him. I'm sure Gene said something similar but not the exact same thing. Oh...remember to review!