14AmyChan: okay, new chapter!
Naruisawesome: We don't own the cannon characters, but we do own our OCs~!
14AmyChan: Without further ado, please enjoy~! *^_^*
After a few long moments of silence Souta had still yet to speak. The poor boy was still too much in shock that his mother 'betrayed' him.
"Souta," Lin said, seeming to jerk his son out of his trance. The half-Chinese boy turned to look at his father, who simply nodded towards Mai, indicating that the boy should let her see the charms. Slowly, the boy gathered up his charms and handed them off to Mai, who-unfortunately-still had her hands full with Emi.
"Naru, can you hold those up so I can look at them, please?" Mai asked sweetly, smiling at her husband with excited eyes. She really wanted to look through the charms. Her husband sighed and pulled on some gloves. This was a new preventive measure from having him look into the past of certain items, a psychometric block.
Souta reluctantly handed his charms over to Naru when the man was ready, and when he held them up for Mai to see, she smiled softly before looking back at the young boy beside her.
"You put a lot of time and effort into each of these," Mai said happily. "Each one looks a bit different from the rest."
Cheeks still tinted pink, Souta gave a small nod. The now silent boy just hoped Auntie Mai wouldn't mention... that—that is if his mother told her.
Seemingly oblivious to the agonized disposition of the young boy, Mai had Naru flip through the charms carefully, herself making comments on each one.
"Ah! Ayako's has a tree branch, Bou-san's has a guitar in those lines there, Lin-san has five orbs... are those his shiki, Souta-kun?" Mai asked.
"Yeah..." he mumbled before grinning."Look at yours." he told her.
Curious, Mai watched as Naru flipped to her own charm. Her eyes shone with amusement as she shook her head.
"I got a pillow? A pillow?" she asked, chuckling.
Lin smirked at his son's antics. He had put a lot of thought into finding the perfect symbol for each person.
"Ne, I bet Naru's is tea." Mai snickered especially when her husband sent her a glare.
Souta nodded hesitantly when he saw the look on Naru's face. A look at Naru's charm revealed an ornate china glass on top of a cube, or possibly block, hidden in the handwritten charm. Masako's had a Halloween ghost, John's had a cross, Jun had a jack-in-the-box.
"Oh, Naru! Find Kazuki and Yuzuki!" Mai exclaimed, flicking her gaze to Souta for a moment. Souta froze at the tone the woman used saying her daughter's name. She knew! His mother told!
Naru, picking up on his wife's tone, narrowed his eyes slightly as he searched for the two charms in question.
However, when he did find them, his brows knitted together as he looked at them. He flipped them over and looked at that side too.
"What is it?" Mai asked when her husband never showed her the charms for their children.
Souta shifted nervously on his feet. Did he do something wrong with those charms in particular? Impossible. He had worked the hardest on-
"It seems that the twins' charms have... smudges everywhere on them." Naru answered his wife. Hearing his words, Souta's eyes widened in horror.
"Just the twins'? No one else's?" Mai questioned, and when she received a nod, she frowned. "That's very...strange."
"N-no way!" Souta cried, taking all of the charms back and examining them all closely. Looking at all of them as the one who had made the charms in the first place, it was more obvious to him that more than just the Shibuya twins' charms had been smudged. He divided the charms into two piles, smudged and not smudged.
The adults' charms seemed to be left untouched, but the children's were all some degree of ruined. So far, the least affected was Amaya's charm. The most smudged so one could not read a character in any language anywhere on the paper was definitely Emi's. Kazuki, Yuzuki, Jun, and himself lay in the middle of those two spectrums. Souta looked at his hard work, at a complete loss for what to say.
"B-but how?! They were perfect when I unpacked them!" Souta said in disbelief, looking up at his father.
Without a word, Lin held his hand out for his son's work. Souta silently complied.
Mai's frown deepened in sympathy as she watched Souta. The poor boy worked so hard on the charms and now all of his proud work went to waste—well, at least she hoped it wasn't.
"All of the charms I made for the grown-ups look fine, but all of the others have been messed with in some way," Souta mourned. He looked to his father, eyes pleading for sanctuary. "What did I do wrong?"
"I don't think it was anything you did wrong." Lin answered his son thoughtfully. "If it was, then all of the charms would have been ruined and not just the children's."
Hearing that made Souta feel relieved that his carefully made charms were not ruined through any fault of his own, however...
"So why are the charms for the children ruined?" Naru asked the question on everyone's minds.
"I can't help but think about what Amaya-chan said yesterday..." Mai commented innocently, cutting through the silence.
"When she and Yasuhara returned with a different history than the first trip to the library?" Naru asked, clarifying exactly what his wife was talking about.
Mai nodded. "Yeah, I mean I know the fairy tale part is a little...you know. But still, something about it just won't leave my mind."
"If it's about Rumpelstiltskin and your obsession with that show about fairy tales," Naru began to warn, his eyes already flicked back to the charms. He was already devising a way to ensure the safety of the SPR children. If this ghost was after their children, then would it be prudent to remove them from the premises? Or was he taking too many assumptions?
Mai rolled her chocolate brown eyes at her husband before huffing. It wasn't an 'obsession'. She just happened to really... really like the show.
"No, it's not thank you very much! Didn't I just say I knew the fairy tale part was very unlikely?!"
"You did not, but being able to discern between reality and fairy tales is an improvement," Naru said, still trying to decide what to do concerning the children.
The Lin men watched from the sidelines and somehow even Emi was able to remain silent during the married couple's exchange.
Mai's eye substantially twitched. "What did you just say?!" she then began to silently fume.
"Degradation in your hearing, however, should not lead to the decline of my own," the raven haired man continued, either oblivious to or ignoring his wife's rising temper. Externally, at least. "So there is no need to shout."
The woman glared testily at her husband before grumbling incoherent words. Something about 'if only she wasn't holding the baby' and 'if Souta wasn't there'.
"So this plus the pictures Kazuki showed me this morning means that the spirit is targeting us kids," Souta said aloud, trying to put a temporary end to Uncle Naru and Aunt Mai's fighting. "But why?"
"That seems to be the question at the moment..." Naru spoke. A pensive expression began to form on his face making his wife sigh.
"I know that look, Naru." Mai had seen it multiple times throughout the years on cases. He always wore it when he thought a case was too dangerous for his children. Although this time it wasn't just his children he had to think about. "I know what you're thinking."
"And I know that you've taken a side on the matter. Let me know now if I have to fight you on the issue," Naru stated. In truth, he was unsure whether or not the children should leave. It was true that there was no one nearby to watch the children, meaning one or more of the adults would have to leave the case to care for them, and also true that the spirit had not done anything physically to anyone yet. However, the question remained on whether or not the spirit would harm the children eventually. And when was "too late" to pull them out?
"Well it depends on what your answer is." Mai replied, shifting the baby in her arms.
"You've become more skilled with debate," Naru observed casually, putting off his answer. Mai smirked in recognition, blushing slightly at his praise, however sarcastic.
"You know they're going to put up a fight—especially Yuzuki—if you go through with your plans." Mai vaguely warned her husband. She knew if she actually said what was going through Naru's mind then Souta would surely argue and tell the other children when he saw them.
"As you usually do, yet in the end, whenever you go against that course of action, someone ends up getting hurt," Naru pointed out. "I do not want it to be the case this time, and I know no one else wants any of them to get hurt either."
Mai pressed her together in a firm line. Well, of course she didn't want any of the children hurt in any kind of way. No one did. Though a few times Naru had pulled their children out of a case because he thought it was getting too dangerous for them, but actually it wasn't in the end. Naru was just being his usual, over-protective self.
"Why don't we wait for Yasu and Amaya-chan to come back?" Mai asked, adjusting Emi slightly in her arms. "If they find something really bad, then we can talk about it more. But until then, the kids stay."
Mai's proposition was met with a hard glare from Naru. He never liked being told what to do anyway.
In fact he never let someone tell him what to do. Although there was that small exception of Mai...
"We will see," he finally ceded, earning a victorious grin from Mai. Were she not holding the baby, Naru would have sent her off to make him some tea.
Now they simply had to wait for-
Suddenly the base door swung open to reveal his daughter, who seemed to have a very annoyed expression on her face. A few moments later Madoka and Kazuki followed behind her.
"What happened with you guys?" Souta asked, half-grateful for the break in Uncle Naru and Aunt Mai's talk, and half-curious as to what would make Yuzuki so angry. Well, other than his calling her Yui, of course.
"Yes," Mai agreed. Her and Naru shared a quick, worried glance between each other knowing something had obviously upset their daughter. "What happened? Madoka?" she asked, pinning the older woman with a stare.
"I'm not entirely sure myself, little Yuzuki-chan won't tell me anything. She and Kazuki were fine one moment, and the next thing I knew she was leading the rest of us back to the base," Madoka replied honestly. She shot a worried look towards Kazuki before handing the temperature chart over to Naru. "And even Kazuki seems really somber now, too. Honestly, I can't get a clue from either of them..."
Without a word the brunette woman stood up from her seat and handed Emi to Naru, not even asking him if he would hold her or not. Naru, having no choice, had to take the baby as she was shoved to him. Mai went to Kazuki and Yuzuki and kneeled down beside them.
"Yuzuki, Kazuki, do you want me to ask nicely or do we have to talk in private?" Mai asked, holding up her hands to emphasize what she meant. Without a second's pause, the two children joined hands with their mother, opening a private line of communication with her where no one else could hear what was being said. Speaking telepathically tended to have that effect.
Alright, now what happened with you two? Mai questioned sternly. It wasn't like her children—especially Kazuki—to act this way.
Kazuki shared a covert glance with his sister before making complete eye contact with his mother. In this way, he began to tell her what was troubling the young souls.
Well, for starters, Yuzuki almost went off on her own again... he began, telling on his sister.
I had a good reason! the black haired girl interrupted, visibly glaring at her "younger" brother, who shrugged the action off. Yuzuki's glares were meant only to get under the skin of those it was directed at. Kazuki had gotten used to them a long time ago.
Yuzuki-chan! Your father has done told you repeatedly that you are not to go off on your own! Do you want me to tell him about this? Mai threatened her daughter.
That stupid ghost said he hid something in the room down the hall, so I went to investigate! Yuzuki huffed, indignation flooding her features. But when I got there, there was just a stupid note on the wall!
First of all, your father told you not to speak with the ghost. Mai stated exasperatedly. She gave a quick flick of her gaze to Naru, who was staring at them attentively. He was probably searching for some kind of secret message that was hidden in their expressions or body language. Secondly...what did the note say? she asked, despite being in the middle of Yuzuki's scolding.
It said "Two too short, I'd need two more, the issue I now sort is that you hold the door. Power is the key, not found too late, strange I find in thee: two, and not the eight. A door, two and then three more, nine extra players to be out the door. Play with me, play my game! After tonight, we won't be the same..." Kazuki recited. He showed his mother the wall telepathically while Yuzuki mumbled angrily about a stupid rhyming ghost.
Kazuki, go tell your daddy what you told me... But leave out your sister almost going off on her own again, alright? Mai asked after a seconds thought. Her son nodded in understanding before going to his father. Mai's eyes then traveled back to Yuzuki.
And you, Yuzuki—
I know, I know, the girl tried to wave her mother off only to be cut off by the same woman.
No, you don't know, Yuzuki, Mai interjected sternly. Yuzuki reluctantly looked in her mother's eyes. I know you want to be like your father and protect everyone, but your father doesn't wander into dangerous situations trying to be the hero. He only puts himself at risk when you, your brother, myself, or anyone on this team is in danger. Being the hero or being the smartest doesn't mean putting yourself in harm's way to get there. You can solve the case without running headfirst into dangerous situations. You can be the hero by preventing someone getting hurt, not by sacrificing yourself the instant you see trouble. Do you understand?
…I just want to help. Yuzuki whispered, although very reluctant. The only people she'd ever admit her debilities to would be her parents.
I know you do, sweetie, Mai comforted, pulling the young girl into a hug.
As they did that, Kazuki and Naru were having a telepathic discussion over what the boy had seen.
...And that's all that happened while we were gone. Kazuki finally finished relaying the information to his father.
The elder man reviewed the information he had in his mind. Moments after the discovery of the tarnished charms, his own children come into the base bearing news of a note written on a wall.
Kazuki, do you and Yuzuki still have the repressive necklace charms Lin made for you? Naru asked. Because the twins were his children, they had been born with fractions of his and Mai's abilities. Combined, the two could be quite a force to be reckoned with. That was why he had asked his longtime friend to create a set of necklace charms for the twins to wear, to mask their power from spirits who would try to take advantage.
I always have mine, though you'd have Yuzuki about hers. The little boy reached for the necklace that was usually hidden beneath the collar of his shirt to show Naru.
However, after a second of searching for the accessory, the young boy could not find it. His charm was missing!
Oh no... Kazuki slightly panicked, momentarily forgetting he was still telepathically linked to his father. Yuzuki, he called out to his sister. Do you still have your necklace around your neck?
Yuzuki, who had been discussing something or another with her mother, rolled her eyes at her brother's seemingly foolish question.
"Of course, I have it," she answered without checking. Upon feeling the frantic thoughts of her brother, she sought out her charm in order to reassure him. "It's right...huh?"
Yuzuki's charm was gone as well. She narrowed her eyes and whirled around on everyone in the room, a frown on her face.
"Okay, ha ha," the girl laughed dryly, her tone demanding. "Who took mine and Kazuki's necklace charms? We're supposed to keep those whenever we're on a case."
Souta frowned also at the girl's words. "How would we take them when you always have them on to begin with?"
"I don't know, but someone took mine and Kazuki's charms. They're gone!" Yuzuki growled, glaring at the poor child. After a moment, her eyes widened in realization and she marched over to her brother's side, putting her hand on his shoulder. "For this case, Kazuki is not leaving my side," she declared.
Kazuki silently sighed at his sister's protectiveness. Really, he was the one who protected her half of the time whether she realizes it or not.
Yuzuki, I don't think—
"I don't wanna hear another word out of you about it! You're staying with me and that's that!" the female twin of the two exclaimed.
14AmyChan: Would you say that's a good stopping point?
Naruisawesome: Yup, that works.
14AmyChan: Please read and review, guys!
Naruisawesome: And thanks in advance!
