Sorry it took me so long to update! But here it is! And sorry for the cliffhanger I left ya with but umm I gotta admit, I am a total sadist; so don't expect me to be exactly 'nice.' But here we go!
Disclaimer: I do not own ghost hunt or any of its characters. I only own rights to my OC's
I sprinted into the kitchen to see Mai sitting on the floor clutching her hand in pain. The tea cups were broken across the floor with her blood scattered about. As I carefully walked up to her I heard the rest of the team trail behind me. Ayako gasped in shock and I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes.
"Mai, are you okay?" I ask gently.
"Y-Y-Yeah, I'm fine- just a bit shaken up."
"Okay good, I'm gonna fix up your hand before asking what happened okay? Here." I finish getting my arms around her back and under her legs. I pick her up gently and wince as I feel a shard of glass falling out of my leg. I must have done that when I bent down to help her. Ah well, I'll be fine. I focused my attention on her hand.
"Okay, this is gonna hurt." She nodded, shutting her eyes tightly. I slowly pulled the glass out of her hand. She cried out in pain.
"Stop! You're hurting her!" Ayako yelled at me.
"Shut up, you are just making it worse. Get her ice and bring Oli over here. Now Mai." I turned my attention to her. "As you can see, you have lost some blood, more then just from your hand, so I need to know where else you are bleeding from." It was true, there was simply too much blood to be all from her arm, not to mention she was looking quite pale, which wasn't good. Oliver came up to me- having an idea of what I would have to do.
"M-My leg I think." I turned her right leg around before inspecting the left. There it was, shard of glass in a major artery.
"If she keeps bleeding like this without a doctor she will pass out from blood loss. Death possibility 91%. Lin, Naru, I need your permission before I can help her." Naru and Lin looked reluctant before nodding slowly. I sighed deeply before quickly ripping out the glass in her leg. She screamed in pain. I whispered a quiet 'I'm Sorry' before biting my skin and giving her some of my blood. I heard shouts from behind me, yelling at me, asking what I was doing. As I took my arm back Mai's color returned to her face, her wounds started to close and she looked at me fearfully.
"I gave you some of my blood, demons heal faster than humans. Don't worry you aren't a demon- but your body will start to reject the blood, so I'm sorry if you get a fever within the next couple hours. And don't worry about me, I will be fine." I started to see the black spots in my vision and felt a familiar body come up behind me. I looked up at Lin with a small smile. I heard a faint 'whats happening to her.' Before I was dragged back into the familiar darkness.
Naru POV
I watched as she gave her blood to Mai. I hate this, I hate this, We hate this, why does she do this to herself. I saw the color drain from Keket's face as she pulled her arm back. I blocked out whatever she was saying, I knew she was just sugar coating what was about to happen. I could see her start to slightly sway and watched as Lin quickly came up behind her. For once I was glad it was him instead of me catching her, I didn't want her to see the worry on my face. I swear the only other person who makes me worry this much is Mai. Mai, she looks better but was quickly up as she saw Keket faint. I walked over to her to feel her forehead.
"Good, the rejection hasn't started yet. Lin, I suggest you keep them all out of the room." He nodded before carrying her up to her room. I sighed quietly.
"What is going on? What just happened." Ayako's questioning voice rang in my ears.
"Keket saved Mai, that's what. I have no right to tell you what is about to happen, I doubt she wants any of you to know."
"How are we supposed to trust her if we don't know whats going on?" Monk reasoned.
"I trust her, you guys trust me, so you should also trust her. I know what she is makes it difficult but you should remember that she was raised as an almost normal child. She didn't know what she was till the age of 7, and at that point it terrified her. Terrified her as much as it terrifies people who know her. Most people never get over that fact about her, but I suggest you all get over it quickly, because I promise- you are not gonna want to be on her bad side after this." I shocked myself by speaking that much. Wow Naru, you just spoke as much as Gene used to. I was ready to turn and leave when Mai stopped me.
"I trust her." I had to stop a slight smile form gracing my features. At least this was progress. I noticed Mai's face becoming paler and I visibly paled with her. I quickly put my hand to her forehead feeling the slight heat radiating off it. I sighed before speaking, barely keeping my emotions in check.
"Now everyone, there is no way I can prepare you for what is about to happen. You will probably wish you were never here after witnessing this. So firstly I suggest you cover your ears."
"Why?" John asked curiously.
"Just do it now-" I was cut short by an ear piercing scream and barely saw Lin running out of the room, locking the door behind him. Everyone's hands flew to their ears as they tried to block out the noise. The few moments that I heard these screams were also the few moments I truly wanted to cry. I wanted to use my PK and smash things. I wanted to curse Kami and wonder why he would force her through such pain. I saw tears gather in Masako, Mai, and Ayako's eyes as they crowded near each other. The screaming faded out for a moment and everyone but Lin and I sighed in relief- we knew what was coming, and it was ten times worse.
"Mai, how is your vision?" Lin asked as calmly as he could. I silently applauded him at that moment.
"A bit weird, I am seeing blue spots every where, is that normal?" I mentally cringed before the sound came again. This time louder, sadder, filled with even more pain. I tried to muffle the noise before we all heard the screams suddenly cease. Then the cracking started, Lin and I looked at each other before looking down in regret. Why would we let her do this?
"W-What is that noise?" Ayako gasped upon noticing the cracking noise.
"It is her bones breaking, almost every single one." Lin responded with sadness and regret etched into his voice. I didn't trust myself to speak evenly so I simply nodded in agreement.
"W-Why is this happening?" Mai croaked through her tears. I walked up to her and placed a reassuring hand on her back, an odd move for me, I know. I whispered so quietly I didn't expect her to hear, but of course she did.
"This has to happen in order for you and her to survive." I wanted to continue speaking but was cut off by another scream, this one filled with more pain that humanly possible. I looked down as the scream made my stomach turn. As her scream faded out it was silent for a couple minutes. Suddenly Mai clutched her body, she was shivering, and I knew the last part had commenced. I turned to Lin and we nodded in silent agreement. We quickly walked to her room with the team following. Lin sent in his shiki first only for them to come out seconds later appearing to be burned.
"Mai, she is absorbing all your heat and the natural heat from her home, I don't want any of you going in there until we give they say-so. Got it?" I left no room for argument. The team scurried away leaving behind a confused and worried Mai, a concerned Lin, and an even more concerned me. Although Lin and I hid it quite well. As the goosebumps slowly let Mai and she started to heat up I nearly sighed in relief. We slowly entered the room and Mai gasped as she took in the sight before her. I turned my head away, for I have seen this picture too many times. Her arms and legs bent in impossible directions, blood oozing out of her back and out of her chest, and clothes singed into near ash. Lin carefully walked forward and cradled the injured girl in his arms before slowly setting her on the bed. I watched as her bones quickly healed and rearranged themselves back into proper order. The blood around her body slowly seeped it's way back into her now invisible wounds. We briskly walked out and left the girl to sleep. I sighed in annoyance, I had a lot of explaining to do.
We walked into the base and everyone stood, a silent question hanging in the air.
"She will be fine, this has happened before." Lin responded for me. His voice had the smallest hint of regret and concern hidden in it. Still, no one spoke.
"I will keep this short and sweet. She is one of few demons allowed to save creatures, humans included. But not without a price, every time she saves someone she has to live through almost all possible ways they could have died. The most common occurrences are broken bones, stab or bullet wounds, or from a fire. I hope you all understand that she hates going through that, and will most likely hate that you all had to find out. Now Mai, don't feel guilty, she knew what was coming." I could see everyone look down in sadness. We stood in silence only to be broken by John's soft voice.
"If she knew what was gonna happen and still wanted to save Mai, then I think it is clear the type of person she is. She is willing to sacrifice herself to help others, and that is not something a lot of people can do." The others nodded in agreement.
"I agree with John, besides she doesn't seem too bad. She kind of seems like a more outspoken Naru, and just as cocky that's for sure." Monk reasoned. I was glad they had decided to give her a chance. I mean, she would be working with them for quite awhile now. I saw that Ayako was about to speak when a sentence cut through my thoughts.
"Mai, what happened in the kitchen?" Great timing Oliver, you couldn't have asked that earlier? I listened tentatively as Mai gave a detailed description of what had taken place.
"When I arrived in the kitchen and started making tea I felt the temperature drop. For a minute I thought it was just me being a little scared, until I saw that thing.
"I slowly turned my head, curiosity getting the better of me. Boy do I regret that decision now. The thing was small, almost the size of a small child. It crawled around the floor as if taunting me and I wanted nothing more than to scream. As it ran towards me I was frozen in shock. Its skin was pale, almost white, with blood shot eyes and crackling lips. Its hair was black and tangled, making the thing look ten times more insane. The things breathing was ragged and came out in short spurts.
"As it swiftly moved behind me I stood in shock. But the pain quickly brought me back. I screamed as the ceramic tea pot was thrown against my body, glass getting stuck in my wrist as I blocked my head. I felt the pain somewhere else, but I couldn't quite pin-point it. As the creature ran away I collapsed into the floor cradling my wrist. I wanted to cry, the pain was sharp and it stung. I swiftly turned my head as I heard Keket's footsteps approaching me.
"I was comforted by her voice and was glad she was there. I shrieked in pain as the glass was pulled out of my wrist. And you guys know the rest.." She finished quietly. I nodded to Mai as Ayako took her back to their room.
"Well this is an interesting development." I muttered quietly. We all quickly got back to work, Lin and I watching the cameras, John and Monk taking room temperatures, and Masako doing who knows what. Lin and I sat in silence for awhile before we heard the door open. I, ready to greet John, Monk, and maybe Ayako, was pleasantly surprised when Keket walked in. I quickly got up to check on her wounds.
"Keket, please sit down." It was phrased like a request but was anything but.
"Oliver this really isn't necessary. We both know the wounds have healed just fine." Her voice was stern and left no room for argument. But frankly, I wasn't one to back down from a challenge.
"I don't care if they have healed, we need to check the scarring- see how bad it was this time." That was partially true I guess. With a sigh she gave in and started to lift her shirt. If this was anyone else I would have been embarrassed, but truthfully she was more of a sister to me then anyone else.
"I really can't believe you Keket, you willingly take your shirt off as if it is no big deal. Huh, and I thought you weren't just trying to get Naru. It seems I was wrong, you are worse then Mai." Masako's appalled voice rung through my ears and I wanted nothing more then to stand up and slap her. But sadly, Lin beat me to the punch. His hand quickly whipped across her face and he looked angrier than I had ever seen him.
"How dare you speak of Keket that way." He quickly sat down and went back to work while Masako and I were left staring at him in shock. She sat down shamefully and didn't say anything until the rest of the group appeared. Sadly- Keket's shirt was still off. I sighed in annoyance as I heard Monk's loud voice arguing with Ayako. I mentally prepared myself for the teasing and saw Keket cringe.
As the door opened everyone stopped in shock before Monk and John quickly rushed out of the room with Masako close behind. Ayako stayed and glared holes into my head. I sighed and finally diverted my attention to Keket's stomach and back. The burn scars slowly fading. I look at her leg and cringed at the scar that had been sitting there for five years now. Keket's ashamed look in her eye made me want to do nothing more then walk over to her, hug her, and tell her that they would all disappear eventually. Instead I opted for a hand on her head and ruffled her hair. Her bright smile brought a smirk to my face and in that moment I wished that her smiles didn't always have to be so fake.
"K-Keket... are all those scars from.. just now?" Mai's voice was nervous and filled with sorrow.
"No, the majority of them are from times I've done this before. The only new ones should be the burn marks."
"Keket, I'm afraid you have another one." Lin's voice was sad and his eyes were caring.
"W-Where." Her voice audibly cracked.
"On the juncture between your shoulder and your neck." She quickly tried to see it. When she caught sight her face fell. I walked up to her as her knees buckled.
"W-Why does this always happen to me." She fell slightly. I cradled her in my arms, yes I know this is very unlike me but this is my job. My job as her (metaphorical) brother, Gene would be scolding me if I wasn't doing anything to comfort her.
"Its okay to cry, I know you want to." In that moment, as I felt her tears soak my shirt, I wanted nothing more than to cry with her.