Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt or any of its characters :)
[Chapter Ten]
Ayako knew that she had to think of a way to buy herself some time while the rest of the SPR looks for her. She can already see Hina walking towards the bed in slow motion, as if she was enjoying every agonizing second that Ayako spent screaming her lungs off. Step by step, Hina's malicious grin was enough to scare Ayako in more ways than one. Desperately, Ayako tugged harder in a feeble attempt to free herself, but Hina didn't even care. She knew that she had Ayako in her grasp.
"What do you want from me?" Ayako asked, her voice sounding throaty from all the screaming she did.
"Buying yourself some time, Yukino?" Hina laughed in a sinister manner, effectively freezing Ayako in place.
"What the hell are you talking about? I'm not Yukino!"
"Oh please, don't even try to deny it," Hina glared at Ayako.
"I'm not denying it, you stupid woman! I'm simply telling you the truth! I am not Yukino!" Ayako practically yelled at her.
"Just who are you calling 'stupid', you bitch?"
"Did you just describe yourself?" In the end, Ayako couldn't help but lash out on Hina. After all, she had lots of practice by insulting Bou-san most of the time.
"You're the one who slept with my husband!"
"I do not sleep with anyone as bad looking as your husband! Don't insult me!" Ayako rolled her eyes.
Hina looked absolutely enraged. She stopped walking, and is now directly on Ayako's side, clutching the knife as if her life depended on it. On the other hand, Ayako was praying for Bou-san and the others to find her, before Hina kills her slowly but surely.
"How dare you insult my husband!" Hina yelled as she raised her knife above her head.
"You were the one who killed him, right? That's because you got so insecure to the point that-"
"Enough!" Hina cried out as she plunged the knife deeply, knowing that it would embed itself completely.
Good thing it missed Ayako by a centimeter.
"I need to know why you slept with my husband!"
"I'm telling you, it wasn't me! You got the wrong woman!" Ayako shot back, but suddenly feeling exhausted.
"Where's Yukino, then?" Hina asked as she practically leaned her face near Ayako's.
"She's dead! Don't you remember? You killed her!"
At this, Hina stopped advancing towards Ayako, as if realizing something important. Ayako got somehow relieved, but did not let her guard down. The atmosphere around them was calm and tense at the same time, as if tempting both women to break the silence. As if on cue, the door slammed open, revealing Bou-san and the rest of the team, including Suzuka who was breathing heavily. Evidently, this further angered Hina.
Bou-san didn't waste any time at all. He immediately headed over to where Ayako was and untied her quickly. As soon as Ayako's wrists were untied, Hina sent Bou-san flying backwards, his back hitting the wall with a loud bang.
"Bou-san! Ayako!" Mai yelled as she recklessly ran to Bou-san's side, knowing fully well that the impact might have taken its toll on him.
"Get Ayako out of here," Bou-san managed to choke out, before losing consciousness.
"Apparently, Mai-chan isn't the only one who has a knight in shining armor," Hina wickedly grinned as she spat out Mai's name.
Lin whistled, and not long after, his shiki cut through Hina's pale form, emitting loud shrieks from her. While Hina was in pain, Mai and Madoka ran over to the bed to help Ayako untie her feet. Yasuhara and John carried Bou-san out of the room, since there was a trail of blood starting to trickle down the side of his face. Suzuka then decided to go with them back to the base before Hina uses her again.
"You two are not getting away!" Hina screamed as the knife retracted itself from the bed and pierced through Mai's arm, making her yell in pain. The knife left a long, deep gash on her arm, and blood was gushing out steadily.
"Mai!" Naru called out, with the beginnings of a glowing ball in his hand.
"I'm alright! Naru, don't you dare do that!" Mai cried out as she saw what Naru was doing.
The moment Mai and Madoka untied Ayako, the three of them rushed over to where Lin, Naru and Masako were. Again, Hina managed to get a hold of the knife that was previously embedded on Mai's arm, only to hurl it back in their direction. Luckily, Lin was able to dodge it before the knife hit him.
"Why don't you just move on?" Mai cried out as Hina continued to laugh maniacally.
"Why? Have you moved on since that man rejected you?" Hina raised an eyebrow while pointedly looking at Naru.
"At least I'm not hurting other people!" Mai shot back, feeling embarrassed by the way Hina openly brought up an unwanted topic.
"A brave sacrifice, I'll give you that. After all, I know that you're still in love with him," Hina said with a smirk, making Mai resemble a tomato.
"I never rejected her..." Naru muttered as he glared at Hina, but Mai was too focused on her so she didn't hear what Naru said.
"Really? We're going to talk about that right now? No wonder your husband cheated on you!"
"How dare you!" Hina screeched as Mai was suddenly in her grasp.
"I feel sorry for you," Mai genuinely said as Hina tightened her hold on Mai's neck.
'Not this again,' Mai thought.
Naru, unable to contain his anger towards Hina, raised his hand in Hina's direction, carefully aiming so that he wouldn't hit Mai in the process. But before he could release it, Shiro Tomoki suddenly appeared, causing Hina to drop Mai. Immediately, Naru ran towards Mai, holding her protectively in his arms, no longer caring that the other members could see them.
"Stop this right now, Kinzaki!" Tomoki's voice rang out through the room.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Hina asked, her voice almost sounding desperate.
"This has to end now before you hurt more innocent people," Tomoki drifted closer to Hina's figure, but she was distancing herself from him.
"Why should I care? Did you even think of my feelings when you slept with that Yukino?!"
"You knew I did what I had to!"
"You shouldn't have married me in the first place, then!" Hina was already crying, while Tomoki looked like he wanted to comfort her.
The rest of the SPR members watched the scene unfold in front of them. On the other hand, Naru was quickly tending to Mai's wound since she was already feeling lightheaded due to blood loss. Frankly, Naru didn't care about what would happen to Tomoki and Hina, as long as Mai was safe and sound.
"I loved you, Kinzaki," Tomoki told her in a gentle tone.
"I did too. Until I saw you with that woman!" Hina accused as she furiously wiped away the tears from her face.
"If anyone is crying right now, it should be Yukino. She knew that I only slept with her so that I would have an heir to succeed the company. I couldn't possibly let them take you away from me forcibly just because you couldn't give me a child!" Tomoki explained as he finally managed to grasp Hina's arm.
"We could've ran away!" Hina cried out.
Tomoki seemed to notice Naru's energy focused on an orb in his hand. Tomoki then looked at Hina, before he kissed her one last time before saying, "I'm sorry, love."
"That's enough," Naru growled as he stood up and directly hit Hina with the glowing orb in his hand, before anyone could stop him. Hina managed to scream in pain before completely disappearing. The other members protested, but it was already too late.
And then Naru collapsed.
Goodbye, everyone. And thank you for releasing us. Take care.
The SPR members heard the voices of both Tomoki and Yukino, before Mai too, lost consciousness.
- Day 5: 7:03 am -
When Naru woke up, he immediately recognized the white walls around him. Naru sighed as he realized that he managed to land himself in a hospital again. He heard loud voices around him, particularly Ayako and Bou-san's, who were arguing like an old married couple. Naru also noticed that Bou-san had a bandage on his head, but nevertheless, Ayako was still fighting with him as if nothing happened.
"Naru! You're awake!" Madoka cried out as the others surrounded his bed.
"Thanks to Matsuzaki-san and Takigawa-san. This room is not a damn arena so just get out if you want to continue fighting," Naru muttered in an annoyed manner as he glared at the two.
"We're glad you're alright, Shibuya-san," John said with a genuine smile.
"Where's Mai?" Naru bluntly asked as he scanned the faces around him, looking for a certain brunette.
"Over there," Ayako said as she opened the curtain separating Mai and Naru's bed.
"Has she woken up yet?" Naru asked as he stood up, ignoring the pain that he felt when he moved.
"Naru, you still have to rest!" Lin protested, but after earning a glare from Naru, he thought better than to stop the idiot he's babysitting.
"The doctor said that Mai was anemic, and the blood she lost didn't help," Madoka explained as she walked over to Mai's bed and sat down on the side.
Naru sat down on Mai's other side and softly gazed at the brunette lying down with her eyes closed.
"What happened after Hina disappeared?" Naru asked the other members.
"Yukino and Tomoki managed to move on after finally being released," Masako answered in a soft tone.
"At least that's over," Bou-san said with a sigh.
Naru glanced back at Mai, wanting to hold her hand but since the other members were present, he knew that he wouldn't hear the end of it, especially from Yasuhara. As if on cue, Lin cleared his throat and nodded towards the door, signaling that Naru needed some time alone with Mai. As soon as the others left, Naru didn't hesitate to hold Mai's hand.
"Mai, wake up already," Naru's voice was almost commanding.
Naru felt Mai move slightly.
"Mai. Come on, please wake up."
"I've never heard you say 'please' before," Mai chuckled softly as she opened her eyes to look at Naru.
Naru had a surprised look in his face before saying, "What the hell was that? You were awake the whole time?"
"I swear I just woke up!" Mai protested but ended up coughing. Naru handed her a glass of water, still wearing an annoyed look on his face.
"And by the way, what on earth were you thinking? You know that you collapse every time you use your powers!"
"I only did that to protect you," Naru said as he held Mai tightly in his arms without thinking.
"Naru...I was really worried about you too. Don't ever do something like that again!" Mai told Naru as she snuggled in his chest.
"You idiot. Stop worrying about me," Naru whispered in her ear.
Someone cleared their throat. Naru turned to give the glare of the century and saw Yasuhara poking his head through the door.
"Sorry for interrupting, but Hitsuga-san, Kaname-san and Suzuka-san are here to see you," Yasuhara told him before running away while screaming "Naru's going to kill me!"
The three entered the room, and Naru saw Kaname's eyes light up when he saw that Mai was awake, As much as Naru wanted to hit Kaname's face, he couldn't do it in front of Hitsuga-san.
"Thank you so much for your help, Shibuya,san and Taniyama-san," Hitsuga-san said while the three of them bowed deeply.
"We were just doing our job," Naru replied professionally while Mai just flashed a bright smile.
"Mai, if you have some free time, maybe we could-"
"She's not available, Hitsuga-kun," Naru told Kaname in a cold manner. Kaname sweat-dropped while his mother and sister giggled.
"It was already obvious the moment I entered their office," Hitsuga-san smiled before the three stepped out of the room, of course, not before Kaname smiled warmly at Mai, which gave Naru the intense urge to use give Kaname a sample of his abilities.
Mai, on the other hand, was confused.
"Naru, what did Hitsuga-san mean by that? What was 'already obvious'?" Mai asked with a pout.
Instead of answering, Naru slowly leaned over and kissed Mai softly on the lips. It was just a simple kiss, but it made Mai blush several shades of red anyway. As if he couldn't get enough, Naru kissed her again and again, his hand behind her head and the other on the small of her back.
The two suddenly heard cheering from the outside. Apparently, the others forgot to mention that the room had a one-way window beside Mai's bed.
"They are so dead," Mai sighed as she saw Naru cracking his knuckles while the others ran away in fear.
"Damn right," Naru replied as he glared at his idiotic team who were watching them all along.
[Author's Note]
Okay! So here's the last chapter for this story! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did :) Also, I think I'll make another story that would be the sequel for this one, although I won't tell you the plot just yet :)
I know that this chapter seems a bit rushed, and I deeply apologize for that, but if you have questions, don't hesitate to ask, okay? :D So, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I wish you guys all the best! :D
P.S. I need help. I have an unhealthy obsession with Levi Ackerman. Like seriously.