RoseThorn: *sweatdropping* You have know idea how hard it is to get those two to stop fighting one another- it's continuous! Oh no- here they go again. I take back that comment about not needing a TV anymore, I like all fights safely behind a screen where certain PK users can't trash my room. Any way- the moment of truth! The next few chapters will have more information than you'll know what to do with! Aren't you happy Naru? ...Naru?
Naru: *glaring at Akuma*
Akuma: *glaring at Naru*
Mai: *stuck somewhere in the middle- terrified* At this point in time, RoseThorn is very glad she doesn't own Ghost Hunt.
Normal POV
"What are you doing here?!"Mai was alarmed. She hadn't expected him to come so soon.
"Who is he Mai?" Naru was irritated for some unknown reason.
"He's-" Mai had been intending to tell him exactly who he was- she didn't want to keep it a secret anymore- but her voice was gone.
"He's who?" Naru stared at Mai as she opened her mouth again, only to have nothing come out.
'Ah, I see.' Naru had pieced together the evidence.
"Mai, I lift the order that forbids you from speaking about your- ahem- circumstances," the teen said in an unusually formal tone. Instantly, all the effects were gone, Mai could speak and move again. The teen turned to Naru. "Hello, I am Erai Akuma. Pleased to meet you."
"That's an….. interesting name," Naru said narrowing his eyes. (A/N Erai means terrible and Akuma means demon.)
"Actually, very fitting, considering it fits me perfectly," Akuma returned. "Now Mai, you should at least hug me now that I'm back."
Mai stiffly walked over to Akuma and put her arms around him. As soon as Akuma's arms were around her, though, she relaxed a little. "Now, now Mai, you didn't think I'd be mad at you for disobeying an order that I meant to retract years ago, did you?"
Mai relaxed fully, in relief. "That's good."
Naru had been watching all of this with narrowed eyes, his irritation growing. "Erai-san, I suggest you unhand my assistant."
"Of course," Akuma narrowed his eyes back.
"Mai, explain." Naru wanted to know exactly what was going on. What Akuma had said earlier had aroused his suspicions.
"Yeah, Mai, tell him the truth, I think he'll burst from anger if you don't answer all his questions." Akuma looked at Mai amused. Mai was on the spot. 'What do I do?! I can't tell him! He's a ghost hunter."
"Yes you can, I'm no ordinary demon. Or do you not trust me?" Akuma's thoughts cut through hers. Mai remembered that having a demon's heart meant knowing sharing everything about him- being a part of him.
Out loud Akuma spoke, knowing that Mai would never tell anyone if she could help herself- not after what had happened last time. "Mai, that's an order."
Instantly, Mai stiffened. "As you say."
Naru had been watching the whole exchange (including the silent one) and, while all of this was happening, Lin had also come out of his office.
'I hate you.'
'I know.'
Mai flashed a look of irritation at Akuma before she began. "As you probably know by now, Akuma- sama is a demon. When I was young, my mother and I were in a staged car accident where I died directly from the impact. My mother unknowingly called Akuma- sama and made a deal with him on my behalf to, for a price, save me before she died herself. This is why Akuma- sama gave me one of his hearts and I'm alive right now."
Naru and Lin were slightly stunned by this information, shown by the slight widening of their eyes. Naru snapped to his senses faster. "And what was the price?"
He had also noticed her say it was a staged car accident, but that should probably be brought up later. From the glance Lin gave him, Naru knew that he had noticed too.
"The price was being an extra limb of his. Since I have one of his hearts, I'm technically a part of him. I have no free will. I'm lucky that Akuma- sama lets me do what I want." As she said this, Mai's face became emotionless.
"One of his hearts?" Lin questioned.
"Yes, because Akuma- sama is so powerful that even humans know him, he has an infinite amount of hearts. He's impossible to kill, and, since I have his heart, I'm not capable of dying." Mai's face was filled with sadness now.
By now, Naru and Lin were shocked, though they didn't show it. "This is interesting information…."
Naru was thinking hard. 'If the paranormal society knew about this, there would be chaos.'
"I would like to request that you keep quiet about this or else I'll be forced to take measures to ensure you do," Akuma said, his eyes narrowing as he studied Naru.
"Of course," Lin said. "We understand what would happen if this situation is made public. If you don't mind me asking, what's the name that humans have for you?"
"That's for me to know and for you find out." Akuma flashed them a mocking grin. "You know, if I decide to trust you- though I think even you should know my name. It's very well known."
Akuma then turned to Mai and smirked. Mai saw this and, associating that smirk with trouble, nervously started to stepped backward to hide behind Naru.
"Now then Mai, I was hoping you would let me stay at your home, since I have no place to reside in."
Mai flashed him an irritated look, not seeing Naru glare at Akuma since she was behind him. "Of course Akuma- sama," she fake smiled. "Here are my keys, you can go there now if you wish."
"Oh no, Mai- san, I would like to stay here. Since I haven't seen you in soooo long, I would like to spend as much time as possible with you. Which brings me to my next point." He turned to Naru and Lin once more. "Would it trouble you if I started to work here? It would be beneficial to both of us after all. You don't want a demon running loose do you? And I'm guessing I'll be very helpful during cases- I can even give you very interesting cases if you're bored."
Naru stared at him. 'He's making good points, but why do I feel the need to kick him out right now when I look at him?' (A/N You're jealous, dear, jealous.)
"I think it would be in our best interest if you worked here," Lin answered for Naru, knowing very well what was going through his mind. 'We can't have him refusing out of jealousy.'
Naru threw a warning look at Lin. "Why would you intentionally tell us about cases, though?"
"Let's just say I oversee all demons and have to get rid of the ones that cause unnecessary trouble," Akuma replied.
Naru narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything. 'What's he hiding? Well, I could always ask Mai.'
Almost as if he could hear what Naru was thinking, Akuma poked his head behind Naru, where Mai was hiding. "Mai, I order you to not say anything about who I am until I tell them myself."
Mai rolled her eyes. "Yes, Akuma- sama."
"And drop the –sama," Akuma added.
Mai growled under her breath quietly so no one but Naru heard her. Lin had been watching the interaction between the three, 'Looks like thinks are going to be interesting around here…..'
XxX
A/N I was going to stop here, but I'm going to add the next chapter for Xx8CrImSoN8xX ;)
XxX
Naru POV (A/N I think Naru has an interesting mind)
I was irritated. No, actually, I wasn't irritated, I was angry. The demon Akuma had just appeared yesterday and hadn't left her side since. This somehow made my mood turn murderous. I didn't understand why either, so I became even more enraged.
"Mai, tea." I called through the office door.
"Hai." Soon there was a steaming cup of tea in front of me. Mai stared at me clearly uncomfortable. "Um… Naru I'm sorry about Akuma. Somehow, I guess he's put you in a bad mood."
"Mai, that doesn't matter. Of course I wouldn't be in a bad mood because there's a demon in my office," I said, my tone clearly full of sarcasm, even though I myself didn't know why I was mad.
My blushed and hung her head, her hair covering her eyes. "I'm s-sorry."
"What's wrong now?" I kept my voice level, not showing the guilt starting to stir inside of me.
Mai stared at me for a minute before evidently deciding to tell me what was on her mind. "It's just that s-since I have a d-demon heart, I'm also a d-demon."
I stared at her placidly, clearly seeing the mistake I made. "Mai, you don't count- you're to dumb to do harm."
Mai stared at me angrily. "What makes you say that? I can cause a lot of damage if I want to! Clearly you forgot that I share everything with Akuma!"
The mere mention of that thing made my mood turn sour again.
"Oh, is that right?" I scoffed. "Too bad you're too dumb to even think about using whatever powers you have to harm people."
Mai's eyes turned murderous, but she didn't say anything. I watched as her face went from annoyed to angry to realization to happy. Her face is so easy to read, I could almost tell what she was thinking.
"You're trying to make me feel better, aren't you Naru?"
My eyes widened a bit betraying my shock as that was exactly what I was trying to do.
"Of course not, I couldn't care less about your feelings."
Mai just smiled and what she did surprised me even more. She suddenly hugged me and whispered 'thank you' in my ear and then dashed out the door. I was left dazed as I tried to wrap my head around what had happened and more importantly, what I felt about it.
Finally, I took a sip from the cup of tea and muttered under my breath, "Baka."
Normal POV
Mai walked all the way to her desk and sat down before she allowed herself to think about what she had just done. A furious blush coated her face.
'Next thing you know, smoke will be coming out of your ears.'
Mai whirled around to glare at the 'person' whose though had been projected to her. 'This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't suggested that he was trying to make me feel better!'
Akuma just smirked at her. 'I was right though.'
"So have you figured out what you're going to tell the rest of your friends yet?" He spoke aloud this time. Seeing Mai's puzzled look he explained. "You know: the monk, miko, priest, researcher, and medium. There's a chance they might sense my presence." (A/N Come on, you didn't think I forgot them did you?)
"Why don't you just hide it?" Mai questioned. 'I don't want to tell them. They might be disgusted. Actually, I know Masako will be disgusted. We might have made up a little while Naru was gone, but we technically haven't reached the point of becoming friends yet- we just tolerate one another. She might even try to convince everyone to exorcise us.'
'That won't happen, I'm way to powerful of a demon for that.' Akuma's silent reassurance reached her. Mai looked up and showed him her memories of what Masako was like and how she acted towards her. 'If that's the way it is, then we should tell Naru and Lin about it.'
"Alright," Mai sighed. Akuma looked at her with a mischievous smile. 'I'll go get them Mai.'
Mai watched warily as he went into Lin's office first, then Naru's. He walked out of Naru's office with the famous (irritated) narcissist himself in tow and Lin appeared soon after.
"What is it?" Naru asked impatiently. "Unlike some people, I have work to do."
"Oh, don't be like that Naru (insert Naru glaring at Akuma for dropping honorifics), the only reason we don't have anything to do is because we finished it," Akuma said happily, but then turned serious. "Actually, we have to talk about what you're going to tell the rest of your team about me. There's a small chance they may sense me. After all, I can hide myself, but I may slip up sometimes."
Naru thought about this. "Then we'll just have to tell them the truth."
Akuma glanced worriedly at Mai. "I'm warning you now- if any of them, well, react badly….. I might lose my temper."
"And that is something I don't ever want to see again," Mai interjected. Naru raised an eyebrow at this. Seeing his look, Mai explained, "The last time he lost his temper, we were in another dimension he kind of destroyed the whole dimension- as in it winked out of existence. And just so you know, I don't think he was event hat angry that time…."
Naru and Lin didn't say anything to this, they didn't know how to react. "Alright…. We still have to tell them the truth though," Naru decided.
"We probably shouldn't tell Masako seeing how her relationship with Mai is," Lin said. Mai secretly sighed in relief.
"Yes….. that's true," Naru mused. "Not that I want anything to do with her after she blackmailed me."
Mai stared at Naru. 'I can't believe he's being so open.'
'That must mean that he trusts you,' Akuma teased.
Mi blushed at this and glared at Akuma who just smirked back. 'Seriously, it's like you and Naru team up to make fun of me. Though Naru is meaner about it.'
'Who knows,' Akuma thought cryptically.
Naru on the other hand was watching this silent conversation with growing irritation. He didn't like it when her didn't know what was going on and more importantly it was that thing and Mai that were 'talking'. "I would appreciate it if you spoke out loud."
Mai and Akuma looked at him- Mai startled and Akuma smug.
"S-sorry Naru," Mai mumbled.
Naru let out a sight of annoyance. "Anyway, we'll tell everyone except Hara- san who we will not call unless absolutely necessary. (A/N Sorry about the harsh treatment to Masako, guys. I just think that her personality will make it turn out like this. And… she kind of irritates me a bit.)
Mai and Akuma nodded to show that they agreed. Akuma thought it would be fun to irritate Naru a little more. So, ignoring a warning glance from Mai, he started. "Naru, I just wanted to tell you. Since I'm a powerful demon and all, I'm more advanced than humans so I'll probably be done with any work you have for me in an hour tops. Same goes for Mai if she wants actually. Also you don't have to call the medium at all. I can act like one for you. Nothing is able to hide from me."
Naru glared at Akuma. 'One irritating medium got rid of and another one takes her place.'
Out loud, he said with a voice laced with venom, "Thank you, Erai- san, I'll keep that in mind."
Mai shook her head in exasperation. 'Your antics are going to get me killed. Probably from being worked to death.'
'But you can't die," Akuma reminded her cheerfully.
'Don't remind me- that means I'll be tortured,' Mai sighed heavily.
"Well if that's all there is, we should get back to work," Lin said trying to defuse the argument that was brewing between the two males.
"Yes," Mai and Akuma chimed together.
Naru just grunted and went back to his lai- office. Lin rolled his eyes and went back to his respective office as well. Mai and Akuma continued to do whatever they did when they were bored.
Then two words made the boredom disappear entirely. "Mai, tea."
"TEA ADDICTED, EGOISTACAL, NARCISSTIC JERK!"
RoseThorn: You know it's getting harder to write insults for Naru. I feel like I'm repeating the same thing.
Naru: It's because I'm perfect.
RoseThorn: No, I'm pretty sure that's not why.
Mai: It's okay Rose, you'll figure something out.
Akuma: Yeah *hugs Mai and receives glare from Naru*
RoseThorn: Naru, if you really don't like it when he does that, why don't you hug her first?
Naru: Who'd want to hug someone so stupid?
Mai: I'm sorry for being so stupid. Like I'd want to hug you anyway.
Naru: *smiles smugly* You do want to do it because I'm so handsome.
Akuma: If you want to do it that way, I'm more handsome than you in my true form.
RoseThorn: Naru don't start another argument just because you're jealous.
Naru: *glares* I'm not jealous.
RoseThorn: Oh, yeah? Watch this everyone.
*Akuma hugs Mai again*
Naru: *annoyed* Get away from her.
Akuma: *stares at Naru then smirks mockingly* No, Mai is mine.
Naru: *growls*
RoseThorn: What do you care Naru? It's not like you're in love with her.
Mai: *suddenly interested* Is that true Naru?
Naru: Of course not- who would fall for someone stupid like you?
Mai: *starting to tear up*
Akuma: *glaring at Naru*
RoseThorn: Now look what you did. There's no reason to take it out on her because you are in denial. Lin-san please do the honors.
Lin: *sitting in the corner and previously ignored as if invisible* If you want Mai to stop crying then review.
