"Simple. Don't get eaten." Mai blinked. Was she joking? The brunette honestly couldn't tell with this women. Deciding that the monster hunting was probably (hopefully) just teasing her, Mai entered the room they considered base. Lin sat in front of the tv displays, trying to stifle a yawn. He failed and Mai couldn't help but smile. Her eyes traveled around the room before falling on Naru. To her surprise, he was... asleep? It seemed highly unlike him. She walked over and picked up one of the loose papers that surrounded the man. She scowled as she noted it was in English. With her vague knowledge of English she managed to make out that it was notes on... She squinted. Monsters?
She smirked at the sleeping lump. Someone obviously doesn't like not knowing something. She put the paper down as Lin spoke.
"He pulled an all nighter, trying to get more information on monsters. Why he just doesn't ask the monster hunter is beyond me. He's far to proud, that idiot." Lin shook his head. "He's going to be pretty grouchy when he wakes up."
"From the lack of sleep or not being able to find anything?" Mai said with smirk.
"Both most likely. And I'm sure he'll appreciate a cup of tea when he wakes up. I would as well." Mai gave a mock salute.
"Yes sir, I'm on it!" She walked over the the small kitchenette that connected with the base (it was basically just a stove, sink, and counter). She started to prepare the tea, grateful for something to do while she thought about that morning. Sleepwalking? She's never done that before. Strange. Once more, she couldn't even remember her dream. Did she even dream? She would have to, after all, why else would she sleep walk? She bit her lip and grabbed one of the many teacups they have brought with them.
Then she remembered. It hit her like a ton of bricks. The office, she was delivering papers, when... when... Naru said he loved her. Her face turned bright red and the tea cup slipped from her hands. It shattered, causing quite a racket. Naru shot up, looking around crazily. If Mai hadn't been so embarrassed and confused she would've thought that disheveled Naru was cute.
"Sorry! Sorry! It just slipped out of my hands!" She bent over and started to carefully pick up the pieces. Thankfully, it had broken into big pieces that were easy to pick up.
"Mai?" Naru blinked and quickly cleared his throat, annoyed at the roughness of it. He ran a hand through his hair and noticed Mai putting a cup of tea in front of him. Still disoriented from sleep, he gladly accepted the tea. Taking a small sip, he found himself waking up.
"Thank you." He mumbled before sitting down again. Mai froze and turned to her boss. Did he just? It's just because he's sleepy. Mai told herself, he does nice things when he's tired. She tried to cool her flaming face as she handed a cup of tea to Lin. The Chinese man nodded his gratitude. She sat down heavily in a nearby chair, feeling her face cool down.
"Are you sick?" Mai jumped at Naru's voice. She glanced over at him. If anyone was sick he was probably him. He already had dark circles under his eyes, and his hair was still a mess (yet he still looked perfect, how in the world?). She shook her head slowly.
"N-no. Why?" Was he worried? Was she still dreaming?
"Your face is red and you just broke one of my teacups." Nope, just worried about the safety of his tea.
"I'm fine. You, however look horrible. Despite what you think, you need sleep Naru." He glared at her, and any confidence she had felt was gone in an instant. He ignored her comment before turning to Lin. Taking another sip of tea he said.
"Anything happen in the night?"
"Nothing. No temperate changes, nothing." Naru sighed.
"But that's not unusual right? The spirit is probable not comfortable with us yet." She tried to cheer up the two men.
"Or it might not be a spirit at all." Naru muttered. Everyone was silent, not knowing how to lighten the mood. Luckily Bou-san crashed into the room, dragging John by the back of his shirt. They seemed awfully chipper for it being around 6:30. Mai leaned back into her chair as the men sat on a couch (Bou-san slouching and John sitting with perfect posture). Naru took another sip of tea as Bou-san began speaking.
"Anything happen last night? Do we start cleansing today?" He leaned forward, eyes alight. Naru shook his head.
"Nothing happened. If it wasn't for the deer, I'd think Emma had just run away. There has been no spiritual activity whatsoever." Everyone was silent. Until Mai spoke up.
"That's not true." All eyes turned to her. Lin spoke first.
"Did you have a dream?" Her face turned bright red and she spluttered.
"N-no!" She regretted how fierce her statement was. Taking a deep breath she continued. "When we were looking for the diary, I felt something. I-it was like a hand on my back, and I felt a breath on my neck."
John nodded. "That's when you screamed, and um, fell on Naru." His face turned a similar shade of red as Mai's.
"And you didn't tell us about this earlier... why?" Naru's voice was icy, or at least, icier than usual. Mai winced at his tone.
"I forgot! A lot of things happened that day! We found the journal, went to town..." She trailed off and sighed. "Sorry. It won't happen again."
She wanted to fight, but she also realized that she did something wrong. Mai felt like a child, but knew that she was right to apologize. Naru sighed into his tea.
"It's okay, just tell us when these things happen." Properly chastised, Mai hung her head. She barely noticed Ayako enter the room. The woman glanced around the room, noting the atmosphere. Ayako sat on the arms of Mai's chair.
"What's happens now?" She asked, the silent group. "What should we do?" Naru stood and everyone's gaze drifted towards him.
"We question the maid. She knows something, and right now we need all the leads we can get."
A/N Heeeeeyyyyyy, how's it going? It's been awhile... I know. So I've decided to actually finish something XD We have quite a few chapters and I know I'm not very consistent, but we'll get through this! I'd like to apologize for a couple things, the first being it's been a long time since I've read the manga, so the characters might be OOC, and my writing style has changed a lot, sooooo yeah. But PLEASE review, these reviews keep me going! Give me theories, pointers on characters, or just what you like or dislike! I want to hear from you!
Also, I changed my name! magpiefeather to... Sleepy-Jackalope!
Love you guys!
sleepy-jackalope!
