Hanging Haunted: Chapter 10

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Mai trembled lightly, making what she could of a smile when Masako wrapped a warm blanket around her shoulders. She really hadn't gotten much sleep, though she tried as hard as possible. The poor sleep-deprived girl now looked like nothing more than a living corpse, and the fever that appeared to be breaking had suddenly spiked to its highest.

Ayako was busy making tea, just as Mai had asked, but still a bit flustered from remembering that Bou-san had carried her into her room. Clearing away other discarded porcelain cups, she set new ones down, taking the dirty ones into the kitchen to be cleaned. Whilst all of this was taking place, Bou-san was giving Mai the longest lecture of either of their lives. Lin looked at the clock on his laptop, sighing. It had started a few hours ago, and all of them were pretty damn sure it'd go on for a couple more. John attempted, very nicely in his kansai accent, to tell him that maybe it would be best for them to question her when she started feeling better, but this only fueled his rage towards his younger sister-like figure.

And so, approximately 12809 seconds later (yes, Lin counted out of boredom), after the monk was done properly addressing Mai, and said half-conscious girl had emptied her bladder at least four times, it was finally silent in the base. They all took the time to appreciate the quiet, but as we all know, beauty is fleeting.

Fujisaki entered, coughing into his hand as if he were interrupting something sacred. "I'm bringing Tetsuya back. He…insisted."

Masako looked up from replacing the dampened wash cloth on her friend's forehead. She sighed as she made eye contact with the priest at her side. John smiled nervously, his hand landing on her shoulder, as if to comfort her. Surprised by his sudden actions, she shrugged away his concern (literally), and turned back towards the man in the doorway.

"I'm not sure it would be in his best interest to be near such a sick person, Fujisaki-san," Masako started, ignoring John's troubled expression.

"Yeah," Bou-san cut in, "What if Tetsuya gets sick?"

Mai sniffled and coughed from over on the couch, snuggling further into the covers as she listened to them talk.

"Tetsuya already knows that Mai is sick, but yet he insists he returns regardless of the risk of becoming ill. I can't keep him from this house, but if he becomes a nuisance, I will get him out of your hair. I sorry if this may inconvenience you. Well, until later tonight," he finished, bowing before he left the room.

Sighing, the miko sat upon the arm of the couch, brushing a stray strand of hair from out of Mai's face. "You don't think Naru–I mean…that serial killer will do anything to Tetsuya, do you?"

John also looked concerned for the boy. "I hope not," he said.

Suddenly, Mai remembered something important. "Hey," she said quietly, tugging on the miko's long, black sleeve, "Isn't Madoka-chan coming today?"

Smiling with delight, Ayako straightened herself, clapping her hands together. "Oh, I had totally forgotten," she said, excitement washing over her previously dark mood. Bou-san's head bobbed up and down as he agreed with the red-head. The thought had completely slipped from his mind.

"She should arrive later than expected, however. She was delayed…" Lin started, looking away from his computer screen to catch the team's disappointment.

Mai pouted, shifting over on her side so that she could snuggle into the back of the couch. Everyone knew she was the closest–besides Lin and Naru–to the pink-headed girl. After their first encounter, the two women had become a lot more sociable, exchanging phone numbers and email addresses. They hardly got to see each other, however, so whenever Madoka was around, the two would talk constantly (although they were fully aware of how this angered Naru). "I'm hungry," she mumbled to Masako, quickly changing the subject.

"I'm not a mind reader, Mai, you'll have to tell me what you want to eat," the medium huffed slightly, covering her mouth with her sleeve after she spoke in an attempt to hide the smirk that crossed her lips. Crossing her arms, Mai glowered at the doll-like girl. John interrupted hastily in fear that a fight might break out between the two.

"I'd make you something, but cooking isn't really one of my gifts from God."

Retracting her venomous claws, Mai smiled politely at the priest, waving away his concern for her.

Bou-san sighed as his stomach growled, "Now that you mention it, I am rather hungry…"

With her face scrunched with disgust at the man at her side, Ayako slapped him upside the head, glaring at him as she did so. "Can't you contain yourself?"

"B–But…!"

"Well, I haven't eaten anything all day either, and it's starting to get to me," she said simply, rubbing her stomach. Bou-san stood up straight, his eyes narrowing in anger.

"Stupid woman! Don't hit me because I'm hungry and then say that–"

"Who are you calling a 'stupid woman'?!" Ayako inquired, practically shrieking, the long slender heel of her tall shoe slamming down on his foot. The monk hissed in pain, yelling profanities at said 'stupid woman'. The team watched in amusement as Bou-san was grabbed by the color of his shirt and pulled down to her eye level.

"T–Take-out it is," he said nervously, sighing in relief as her grip loosened.

-

Mai sighed, throwing herself upon the couch she had gotten so used to throughout the past four days. She winced a bit as her head came in contact with the hard arm.

After eating 'dinner' with everyone including Madoka and Tetsuya, she was literally exhausted. There, they had filled in everyone on what was happening. Even the small boy understood the severity of the situation. The good thing was that Masako told her that her fever was dropping quite considerably; she was still sick nonetheless.

Ayako yawned as she entered the base behind Bou-san and Masako, John and Madoka following quietly after her. Tetsuya latched onto the pink-haired woman's arm. Lin, who had ate his take-out while he was working, nearly choked at the sight

Mai almost grinned at the sight, but decided against it. Poor Lin was jealous over that player. How sweet…

"So, I know it's a little early for bedtime, but should we let Tetsuya sleep in his own room?" the monk asked, his question echoing throughout awkward room. "I know Naru has no interest in boys, but do you think he'll take him as a hostage or something?"

"Such things are unpredictable," Lin replied, uncaringly.

"In that case we should let him sleep in the base as well," Masako said as she tapped a perfectly filed nail to her chin. Considering, Ayako nodded, agreeing with her.

"True, but then where will Mai sleep?"

They sat for a while, silent, while they went over their situation mentally. Mai, always hating to be the one troubling everybody, raised her hand in the air. There was always (or most of the time, anyway) a simple and easy solution to every problem. "I'll just sleep in our room," she said, motioning to the girls.

"But, Fujisaki-san has already gone out of his way to give us an extra futon," Madoka started, "Where will you sleep, Mai? Possibly, you wouldn't be willing to…"

"Duh, it's called sleeping on the floor. You know I've gone camping before."

After rolling her eyes in quite an unnecessary fashion, Mai promptly snatched her blanket from the arm of the couch, throwing it over her shoulders.

Clenching the head phone that sat comfortably over his ear, Lin stood. "Mai…!"

He sighed as the door slammed shut. "At least take someone with you," he called after her, not bothering to follow, "problem child." Ayako, Bou-san, John, and Masako hung their heads in disapproval. Madoka, however, hid the smile that was almost succeeding in revealing itself.

Tetsuya, almost looking a little shy, opened the door slowly. Since it seemed like no one else was going to make a move, he'd better do so. He had been dying to talk to her anyway. And what was the whole deal with their boss-guy, Naru?

"Mai," he whispered as he stuck his head into her room.

"I'm going to find her," she said, "Sayuri, right? I'm going to find her no matter what it takes. I'm going to find your frien–"

"Shut up."

A sinking resonated throughout Tetsuya's being as Mai's words reached him. He didn't want to think about it. It hurt too much to think about it. A feeling of hatred filled him as those words left his mouth.

Stop talking…don't talk about her!

"Tetsuya–"

"She's dead. You know it. You know she's dead. Stop trying to–" he bit his lip, unable to stop the tears that began falling. An uncontrollable feeling of loathing for the older woman coursed through his veins. He had never hated someone so much before.

"Shh," Mai cooed, smoothing the rumples in his shirt, not quite sure what to do. Seeing the salty rivers flowing down his cheeks made her want to cry as well. Maintaining a steady breathing pattern, she hugged the child to her, sighing as he slowly rested his chin onto her shoulder. He was like a pet that didn't want to trust his owner.

Her lip quivered. "Don't cry."

-

"Mai…Mai…!"

Mai opened her eyes to the concerned face of none other than Naru. Unable to conceal her shock, she squealed and held a hand to her chest, hoping he couldn't hear her obnoxiously loud heart beat. "W–What are you doing? I don't understand…"

Relief flooded throughout Gene. The poor girl had been through so much…what could his stupid brother possibly do to make her suffer even more?

"Don't worry, Mai. I'm not going to hurt you…" he said as he laid a comforting hand atop her head.

She sighed, nodding. "Naru…Where could you be hiding. We've been looking everywhere."

Unfortunately for her, Gene's mouth became sewn shut for the rest of their visit. Instead, he showed her a vision of the back yard, his face almost pained. He was afraid to show her, in fear she would go and do something stupid and reckless.

Mai frowned, confused. "Why are you showing me this?"

Gene nodded towards the small wooden door, which seemed like it was overgrown with weeds and recently opened. Mai's eyes widened. "It's so obvious! The bomb shelter!"

'Too bad Naru's not here to see how smart Mai is when he's not around…'

-

A full moon shone down on Mai as she entered the tranquil silence of the backyard, her eyes searching across the grassy field. She needed to find that bomb shelter, and fast. A horrible foreboding sense suddenly filled an empty gap within her, calling her to the side of the house where she found the dark entrance to the underground haven.

Mai shook her head. You couldn't really call such a tainted place a haven.

Her body froze, cold sweat rolling down her forehead as she waited for something horrible to pop out in scare her. It was already bad enough, she realized, as she approached the door, holding a hand over her mouth and nose to black out the awful smell emanating from the place.

Mai staggered back carefully, making sure not to trip as she started going through the many possibilities of what could possibly cause such a foul stench, but landed on one in particular; a rotting corpse. The thought made her gag and brought tears to her eyes, but she held them in. Perhaps she was wrong? Or maybe it was just the decomposing flesh of a small animal?

But for Mai, such a thing was too good to be true. She had been on enough investigations which involved dead bodies to know that she was 100% right. A salty tear slid across her ashen skin and down to her chin, dripping like a faucet that wouldn't turn off all the way. More followed.

A loud moan-like sob escaped Mai's quivering lips, shocking her. She covered her mouth, afraid she had blown her cover, only to breathe in the heavy, rancid odor that surrounded the shelter. Before she knew it, she was head first in the bushes, emptying the contents of take-out into their shadows. When she was done, she pulled herself up and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand.

Mai considered her choices: she could either run and fetch Lin, or go in by herself. The first would result in a lock-down, being confined in her room for the rest of the case (Mai assumed this would happen even if Naru were present or not), and outcome of choice #2 would probably end up as…worse.

But this was definitely not time for thinking!

She brushed away any remaining concerns and opened the door to the bomb shelter with an air of confidence around her (she continued to hold her nose in fear of throwing up again). The place was a disaster, to say the least, discarded food containers and drained water bottles littering the floor. Blankets used on cold nights were strewn across the bed, while other furniture lay thrown onto the floor, etc.

Mai couldn't help but notice how it looked like someone had been living there. 'Of course,' she thought, mentally kicking herself for her denseness, 'since Naru didn't have a place to stay while he was possessed, he just camped out here.'

That was when, to Mai's dread, a black garbage bag in the corner caught her eye. From that, it was pretty safe to assume she had found the decaying remains of Tetsuya's friend, Sayuri Matsumura–the one that had made the poor boy so depressed in the last few days.

She covered her eyes, a feeling of dismay coursing throughout her shaking body. She knew she had seen nothing yet.

"Ah, so you've finally noticed how no one bothered to look in the bomb shelter?"

Mai let out a startled shriek as she turned around to face Naru, her hand reaching up to grab for her heart as if it might jump out of her chest, it was beating so hard. She stumbled back, careful not to trip.

"Naru, you…!"

"You sure do take your time, don't you…?" His eyes remained glued to her twisted face as he advanced. "I've been waiting."

-

I'm so sorry I haven't updated in such a long time! I've been so busy with school, three projects, homework assignments non-stop! I'm so sorry!!

You check this story everyday (not now, probably)?! I'm so happy, yet so surprised, and pleasantly surprised. I'm happy you guys are enjoying psychotic Naru. Isn't he just wonderful? I'm definitely not giving up this story. It's not ending anytime soon, so don't stop reading, okay?!

(By the way, forgive the retarded description of the bomb shelter. I don't know what one looks like. I live down south. We don't even have basements. Dig one foot deep and you get a hole full of water.)

Wish me luck with getting up the next chapter soon!