Chapter Six - Coming Back

"Look at what you did to me! Look at what you did to us!"

The words twisted and warped themselves into Mai's head, almost as if they were a living, breathing thing, smothering her from the inside out. Had she hurt somebody? She couldn't quite remember, but her gut was telling her yes, she had done something terrible. Something unforgivable.

But, what had she done exactly? She couldn't recall her own name, let alone what horrific thing she had done to deserve this awful fate. Her lungs burned, as if someone had poured acid down her throat, and her head felt heavier than it should. She felt suspended in a never ending death, caught on some sort of edge, as if she wasn't quite dead yet, but wasn't alive either.

"Look at what you did..." The words pierced her again. Again, she asked herself what it was that she did. If only she could remember...

Images flashed through her mind. First, a dark haired boy with piercing blue eyes and a scowl that made her heart flutter, than a series of images containing the faces of people who made her feel warm. It all seemed so achingly familiar. If this was the life she had lived before this moment, than Mai knew she could be happy.

But the warm images were soon interrupted by something darker and more sinister. A picture of her own face, reflecting horror. A grave. A woman with dying eyes. A man, bloody and lifeless. Her own hands, soaked in blood.

You killed them

The thought struck her hard. That is what she had done. That was the horrible deed she had committed, a deed that haunted her and strangled her and kept her trapped in this hell. She was a cold-hearted killer.

Mai settled back, accepting the torturous feeling inside of herself. After all, she deserved this fate.

...

Mai didn't know how much time passed until the pain began to lift. It could have been days, hours, or just mere seconds. All she knew was that, slowly, she could feel herself coming back into herself again. As if, until that moment, she hadn't quite existed. The pain edged away, and she was suddenly aware that she could feel her body again, move again.

A part of her wanted to hold on to the pain that had disappeared. It was a comfort, a reminder of the horrible thing she had done, and of what she deserved.

But, as the pain left her, her own awareness came back. She found herself opening her eyes and staring into an eternity of blank nothingness. It was pure white, all around her. She realized that this was more of a hell than any amount of pain could be. The pain she had felt only moment before was at least something. This was a world nothing, no pain but no love either. Nothing to remind her of where she was or who she was or why she was. She could forget everything out here; she could let the nothingness consume her until she was nothing too.

At least, she thought it was nothing. Until a voice called out to her softly, so soft that it could have almost been a figment of her imagination. She stood uneasily and looked about her, finding nothing.

"Mai."

The voice was louder this time, and Mai turned quickly on her heal to find its source.

There. There, in the midst of the nothingness, were two shadowy figures. She was tempted to feel frightened, but something told her there was no need to fear.

As if on cue, the shadows dissipated to reveal two faces she recognized almost instantly.

On the right was a dark haired, blue eyed boy. He wore nothing but black. If Mai could have seen his face, she would guess it was a scowl. "Naru?" She questioned. Her memories still weren't quite put together yet, so she wasn't sure. But the name felt right on her tongue.

"No, Mai." Startled, Mai turned to the other figure, the one who had spoken. Her heart nearly left her chest. A short brown haired, brown eyed girl looked back at her. It was the same image she saw in the mirror every morning.

Mai stepped forward hesitantly and reached for the girl. "You're... me?"

The girl smiled sadly. "You need to go back Mai, before its too late."

"Go back where?"

"Home." The boy answered. "You're not dead yet, you've just temporarily misplaced your body. When you felt yourself dying, some instinct deep inside you took over. Your spirit left your body, somehow preserving yourself." He saw Mai's confused look. "We don't know how it happened. It shouldn't have worked, but it did. Some advanced form of astral projection. Do you feel that tug? It's your body pulling you back. Listen to it. You need to go back before there's any physical damage. After all, your body thinks its dead right now."

Mai still didn't understand. This was all so bizarre. So, she voiced her thoughts. "I don't understand. Who are you? What is this place?"

"It's okay, Mai." the girl who looked like her answered softly, "You don't need to understand now. You will, in due time. Just know this..."

Suddenly, as if she were being pulled on a string, Mai felt herself drifting away. As if leaving consciousness. Everything was fading.

"Know what?" Mai asked, desperate to hear the words the girl needed to say.

"I was only keeping my promise. I love you."

There was just enough time to hear the girl's words before Mai found herself breathing again.

...

The sudden shock of air entering her lungs left Mai in a terrible state. Her eyes jerked open, panicked, and her hands reached out to grasp something. She was breathing. Hyperventilating was more like it. The first thing she could make sense of was Ayaoko's relieved face being pushed away and replaced by something entirely different.

She was still reaching, desperate for something to hold onto, until she found a pair of large hands grasping hers in a tight grip, and pushing her hands down securely against something hard, but she welcomed the firm confirmation that this was real and physical, not something buried deep in her head. She met a pair of calm, piercing blue eyes that seemed to stare into her.

"Calm down. Breath." Naru demanded.

His familiar demanding tone calmed Mai down enough to notice her laboring breaths. She still couldn't get enough air to her lungs.

"Naru..." her voice came out a gravely whisper, although it felt as if she were screaming, "I can't..."

I can't breath, she thought. But the words never left her lips because, again, she found herself in darkness. Only, this time at least she knew she was alive.

...

She felt heavy. It wasn't a bad kind of heavy. The heaviness was comforting. It was an existing kind of heaviness. She felt glad to know she was alive and back in her body, where she belonged.

Mai opened her eyes and attempted to sit up, only to be stopped by wires and tubes connected to her skin and face. She was in a hospital.

Her eyes darted around the unfamiliar hospital room, nervous. She didn't like hospitals. As far as she knew, no one liked hospitals. But it was especially disconcerting to find herself in a dark hospital room, seemingly alone.

She attempted to sit up again, pulling needles and things out of her body in order to do so. She made sure to leave the little tube pumping air into her nose in, though. She wasn't quite ready to give up any source of air. As she was pulling at a needle in her forearm, a noise startled her, and she let out a scream that sounded more like a strangled cat noise than anything else.

She looked up and was startled at first to see a man's sihluette in the doorway, but her fear dissipated into releaf when she met the familiar blue eyes of the boy she'd come to love. He stared at her blankly.

"Mai," was all he said. It was all he needed to say. His dark look and glance at all of the wiring of which she had attempted to break free said it all.

Mai blushed furiously. "Sorry..." she muttered, and then grasped her throat. It hurt. She hadn't noticed until now how bad her throat hurt.

"Don't talk." Naru said.

Well, look who's trying to be helpful, Mai thought. You're a little late with that advice.

She rolled her eyes and Naru sighed, seemingly annoyed. He approached her and took a hold of her arm.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

Naru glared. "Didn't I tell you not to talk?" He shook his head and went back to her arm. "What does it look like I'm doing, Mai? I'm fixing your mess."

Mai scowled and pulled her arm away. Sighing again, Naru held his hand out expectantly. He sure was used to getting his way... "Do you want me to have to call the nurse back in here, or will you let me put this IV back in myself?"

Frowning further in sudden defeat, Mai handed her arm back over to Naru. How did he know how to put an IV in anyway? She would have asked, but it didn't seem worth the extra effort.

They settled into an awkward, but strangely comforting silence. Until it was broken by a certain narcissist. "You will be explaining everything you know tomorrow, and don't think to keep anything from me."

With those words, Naru stepped away from the hospital bed and settled down into a seat against the wall. "Go to sleep Mai."

Then Oliver Davis closed his eyes. Mai did the same, never thinking to question why Naru had stayed in her hospital room overnight. And never noticing that, as soon as Mai had settled down to sleep, Naru had opened his eyes and begun to watch her all through the night.