A/N : Hello my wonderful readers and reviewers. Once again, I have to apologise greatly for hardly ever updating now :(
I have a lot on my plate at the moment you see, but! I have just finished all my GCSE exams! :D so I might have a bit more free time on my hands!
But I am really sorry that I haven't been updating. I'd love to tell you all what's happened to me over these few weeks, but I'd rather not bore you, as you're here to read my story! haha! So yes :) thank you for sticking with me, it means a great deal to me!
So because of my absence, I've written a bit more than I normally do! :)
Anyways! On to my amazing reviewers :)
HarunoRin : Hehe! It would be nice if everything worked out! and :O! He might react! he might not! ;) lets see! .
rubyxdragon : Awwwh! Reading that I feel guilty for going away again! And I know! Bad Mai! She should have more sense! I'm so glad you like my story! I really am! It means a lot to mee! . I really hope you enjoy this chapter! But I'm really sorry it took me this long :(
Lewnuhhkau : Lol! . thank you very much! And I know what you mean about not liking them, I'm exactly the same, but I love writing about it! hahaha! And reading! So you aren't the only one in that corner! . hehe! Please enjoy this chapter :)
Angelic Kitsune : Yeah! It was acomplished, but I'm sorry I didn't update sooner! T.T And I'm sorry that it was so short! I really am! Maybe this will make up for it? 0:) ? And I know! Naru should be a lot nicer! Then I'd fall in even more love with him :3 LOL! And you're very welcome about the dedication! . please enjoy this chapter! .
ONIX-21 : I know! Poor Mai T.T! But read on ;) lol! And it would be nice if nothing bad happened to her again, but I'm more cruel than that ;) haha! I hope you like this chapter! :3
Sana-banana : I'm so glad you loved it! . And yeah, It would be nice, wouldn't it ;) lol! But I am a very cruel writer! :P And since you've been looking forward to it! Please enjoy .
LyssAU17 : Hehe! Yeah, go Mai! And lets see, maybe Naru might never find out! We'll just have to wait ;) Please enjoy this chapter! .
kristy1452 : Hehe! Thank you! :D And hmmm! I dunno ;) let's wait and see! :P i hope you like this chapter! :3
mysexeyedwardcullen : Awwwh, well I hope you like this! .
xSapphirexRosesxFanx : Haha! Maybe she will... maybe she wont ;) let's wait and see in the future! .
CrazyKitty24 : Eeeep! Here it is! hehe.
-silencer-LOLLIPOP- : Awwwh! It's ok! :3! And thank you very very much! . I'm glad you liked it! :D! Please enjoy this chapter! .
Lamae : Hehe! Nooo, you wouldn't sound sick at all! If anything, I would be the sick one for writing it! :D And I'm glad you're interested! And I know! the TLC Naru is lovely ;)! hehe! And it was kinda sweet for our Naru! :P And I hope this is enough to fufill your dose of Angst and Adult themes for the week! :D
lil sakura haruno : Haha! Really?! I'm so glad you like it! And I know exactly how you feel! ;) hehe! I really hope you like this chapter! :3
Ok! So thats the reviews answered!
On with the story, and I really hope that you all enjoy it, and that you're all still with me! lol! :)
read on!
A few middle age people strolling, walking the dog, walking to work, that kind of thing, but nothing threatening. However, Mai still kept averting her eyes around her…just in case.
Mai arrived just after 9am. And by just after, it was about 10 minutes after. She walked into the office, shivering and noticed everyone was there. She shrugged sheepishly and rubbed the back of her neck.
"Sorry, guys!" She apologised. She looked around, and noticed Naru wasn't in the room, nor was Lin. Ayako, Bou san, John, Masako, and even Yasuhara was there. But no Naru.
Or Lin.
Not that she cared.
Ok, she did, but she was too stubborn to ask.
"Naru and Lin are out back, packing the equipment in the van." Ayako stated with a smirk.
'That woman knows me far too well.' Mai thought. She strolled across the room, and took a seat next to Takigawa. He automatically put his arm around her, but she flinched away.
"Mai…?" He looked at her, worry across his face. She looked up at him, her big eyes full of confusion. "Are you ok, we're all kinda worried after yesterdays… happenings…" he trailed off.
"I'm sorry," She looked down towards her hands that were shaking slightly in her lap. "I'm ok." She smiled slightly to herself. She looked up to see everyone looking at her. "I am! Honest!" She beamed a huge smile at everyone, and chuckled.
"Since you're ok, you can take this, as well as your own luggage down to the van then."
'Naru…'
She gritted her teeth, and turned her head slowly in the direction of the voice. He was stood in the doorframe of the office, stood with a box of equipment such as EMF metre's and digital thermometers. She stomped her way towards him and took the box out of his hands, balancing it with one hand, and using her other for her own luggage.
She trudged loudly out of the building and went down the backstairs, to the alleyway in which the van was parked.
It was secluded and dark as the shadow of the building towered over the alleyway. The only sound was the winter wind whispering through the trees and the cracking of fragile branches. Mai shivered. It was really cold. Well… it was winter. She walked over to the van and placed her suitcase down so she could open the backdoor to place the stuff in. She shivered again. Hurriedly, she opened the door, but dropped the box.
"Shit." She murmured to herself, bending over to pick the stuff up.
She suddenly felt a wave of fear come over her body. She darted her eyes around from her crouched position wearily, and started shaking. He breathing pattern had changed, and had become fast and uneven. She darted her eyes around faster, and looked to the floor. She noticed a shadow of a person was becoming larger and larger coming from behind her. She whipped her body around, falling on her behind as she did so, using her hands to prop her body up. As she looked up, a dark hooded figure was stood in front of her.
"Well, well, well. Isn't this a nice surprise." The malicious voice entered her ears. She was shaking more violently. She knew that voice. But, how?
The man stood before her, took down his hood. Dirty short brown hair was shown, along with a huge sadistic grin. Mai gasped, tears brimming her eyes as yesterdays events came into mind. She was shell shocked. "What, no greeting?" Sasame asked as he swooped down, forcefully pulling her up to his height, and placing her down on her trembling legs. She immediately backed up against the van, pressing her back against it as hard as she could. She looked at him with wide eyes, tears brimming, and took a deep breath, ready to scream.
Nothing came out, yet, she felt a hard force across her mouth. His hand. She squirmed and wriggled, but he pressed his body up to her own to make her stop. His hand was still across her mouth, but he used the other to caress the side of her waist, which made Mai immediately stop and freeze, her eyes wide with fear as tears streamed down her face.
'Not again…' She silently prayed to herself. He laughed at her, moving his face closer to hers. He kissed her face, where the tears were falling, which made Mai flinch back, bashing her head slightly on the door. He laughed again, pulling down at her turtle neck jumper.
"Wow, they're worse than yesterday, eh? Soshi did quite the job." He said smirking, and winked at her. He then lifted her arm forcefully and moved her sleeves up. "Has the whole ordeal gotten to little Mai?" He looked down at her arm and grinned widely. "You never cease to amaze us Mai. Look how bad these are! Tut tut! They are quite deep; I'm surprised you're still breathing dear." He smirked. He looked at the other arm and smirked again. He then took his hand off her mouth and pressed her arms up against the van, above her head, with her sleeves still down. She was about to scream until she felt another force on her lips. Her eyes opened wide as she saw his face. He was kissing her. It hurt, and she could feel her lips swelling as he continued to press harder onto her violated lips. She then heard a door open near the van. She looked as far as she could while she was lip locked, and noticed a shadow from coming out the door. Evidently, so did Sasame.
"Hello?" A monotonous voice was heard. Sasame moved off Mai like she was on fire. He looked at her as she fell to the floor crying and stepped back, his own eyes wide.
"Don't think this is the last of it, Mai." He quivered as he put his hood up, ran away, and round a corner.
Mai was still on the floor, curled up to the van with her knees tucked into her chest. She was sobbing uncontrollably, surrounded by the equipment she had dropped. Footsteps came round to the van, and Mai looked up to see a man coming round the back. She rested her head back onto her arms and carried on sobbing.
"Taniyama san, what-" It was Lin. He was looking around at the equipment spewed across the floor, and then noticed Mai's trembling and sobbing figure. "Taniyama san!" He rushed to her side, placing a hand on her shoulder, she flinched harder than she had done before, and looked up startled to see Lin. "What- what happened?!" He asked looking at her, to see if she was hurt in any way. She wasn't bleeding, but her turtle neck was pulled down a bit, and he could see a slight black blue and purplish mark, well… he could see a few. He looked closer to see, but Mai realised what he was looking at and pulled her collar up, still sobbing.
"Taniyama san… what happened? What's wrong?!" He asked, unsure of what to do. He knelt down beside her shaking form, and placed both of his hands on her shoulders gently. She snapped her head up to meet his soft dark eyes, and bowed her head back down. She relaxed into his soft grip and then lunged forward, shocking Lin. She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his shoulder. He was in shock. What was wrong with her? Why was she crying so much? He tried to comfort her by rubbing her back softly and telling her to shush. He never knew what to do when this happened, so he just guessed this might help. She was still trembling violently and crying, so he decided that the street wasn't the place for this, and he would pick up the equipment later. He gathered Mai up in his arms, bridal style, and walked up to the building as she curled her body closer to his and sobbed into his shoulder.
"Taniyama san, please don't cry. I'm taking you into the building. Do you want to sit down in my office for a bit?" He asked looking at her as he climbed some stairs. It was a good job she was so light. She nodded into his shoulder slightly. He looked at her arms around his neck, to notice a sleeve had rolled up ever so slightly, and he saw the start of what looked like quite a bad cut.
"Taniyama san, what's…?" But he knew he wouldn't get an answer. She was sobbing too much. He'd wait and ask her once she'd calmed down a little.
He had finally got up to the top of the stairs and to a door, which led into the main room. He sighed. Everyone was in there, and he knew they would all ask about Mai. He'd have to shoo them off for a bit. He sighed again, before skilfully opening the door that led to the room, without dropping the crying Mai. He walked in as if nothing strange was going on and then heard a gasp.
"Mai?! What's wrong with her?! What's happened?!" Ayako had bolted up from her seat and practically ran over to Lin. Everyone else by this time had gathered round, asking what was wrong and bombarding Lin with questions. Just as he was about to go back down to the van with Mai, a voice spoke up.
"Lin. Take Mai into my office. Everyone else, settle down, she'll be fine soon." Naru looked at Lin with a raised eyebrow and walked over to the door that led to his office, and everyone had moved out of the way to let Lin pass with the sobbing Mai still in his arms. He entered the office and walked over to a sofa that was inside the office and laid her down on it, and then bent down to her eye height.
"Taniyama san? Are you feeling a bit better?" He asked, concern in his voice. Mai nodded slightly, and sniffed, using a sleeve to wipe away some tears, still curled up into a slight ball on the sofa. Lin stood up and turned to face Naru, who was leaning on his desk. Naru raised his eyebrow at the man, not needing to waste his breath.
"I don't know what happened. I found Taniyama san outside with the equipment sprawled everywhere crying. So I brought her in here." Naru looked at the man, questioning his truth, but then decided to trust the man. He turned to Mai and looked at her still shaking frame, but she had stopped crying now, and was just sniffling slightly.
"Mai. Do you think you're ok to go through with the investigation?" Naru looked at the girl, who snapped her head up to meet his icy eyes. She looked to be contemplating the idea, but then nodded her head.
"Yeah… I'll be fine." She said quietly.
'I won't let him know he's gotten to me.' She decided firmly. She looked to Naru who was looking straight at her blankly. She bowed her head down again and started to fumble with her sleeve.
"Right. Lin, can you go and sort out the mess by the van then. Oh and place Mai's suitcase in there too, as I suspect she didn't manage to place that into the van either. Lin nodded and took off out of the door, and Naru heard the various shouts and gasps of everyone asking about Mai. He stood and watched until he heard the office door click on its hinges, and then walked towards it, and twisted a latch, which indicated the door had been locked. He then slowly turned round and looked at a sniffling Mai, who was still laid on the sofa, using her sleeves as tissue for her eyes. He walked up to her, and just stood staring at her frail form. What was it that had her so upset? He was so curious, but he knew he couldn't let her know it. Every bit of his reputation would go straight down the drain. Then he heard her choke out another sob. Maybe sometimes, you can push reputation out the way for just a bit. Before he knew it, he had taken off his smart jacket, to swoop down and crouch by the side of the sofa and place it across the trembling girl's shoulders. She jumped slightly, her eyes wide with confusion as she looked straight into his eyes. Naru still saw tears brimming her eyes, but held off the urge to wipe the away.
"What's wrong?" He asked her, almost whispering. He remembered listening to her outburst the night before, but he knew right now wasn't the time to ask about it. She looked at him, her eyes still wide. He thought she looked just like a lost dog in the rain, and she trembled from the constant sobs. She then looked away from his eyes, and down, tugging on her sleeves. He placed his hand on her back which still had his jacket draped over her petit form, and rubbed ever so slightly. She closed her eyes tightly, trying not to flinch away. Naru noticed this and took his hand off her back and sighed. He stood up, and walked to his desk, and lent on it.
"Mai, do you think you can go on with this investigation?" He asked bluntly. She lifted her head up and looked at him, and she scrunched her face up in thought. "If you can't, just say, and you can go home and leave this one." He said impatiently.
Mai then shook her head, determination glinting in her big eyes.
"No." She stated as she sat up on the edge of the sofa. "I'm going to come with you." She stood up, and strolled to the door, her head down and her bangs falling in front of her face. She reached for the door handle and opened it slightly. "I'll fight this." She whispered. She had intended for it to be almost silent, so that Naru wouldn't hear. But he did.
Naru decided that he'd ask Mai about what she had meant later, and ask her on her own so that no one was around to interfere.
A/N : There we are! Done and done :)
Now i just have to get a lot more writing done!
Ok, the aim for this chapters reviews is... lets say round about 115 to 120 :)
get reviewing!
And I hope you all enjoyed this!
Keiko :)
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