Hanging Haunted: Chapter 14
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Mai's heart skipped a beat at the monk's words. Why on earth was she so nervous now? She had known since nearly the beginning of the case that she was being targeted, but only now did she feel an intense pang of anxiety. Those words of his sunk in, like a sponge absorbing water.
Black stars distorted her field of vision and the next thing Mai knew was the hard impact of the ground upon her face.
When she woke up the first thing she did was grope around to try and identify whatever she was lying on; it must have been the leather couch in the base. They must've moved Ayako into another room to make way for her. Mai suddenly felt bad for being such a burden.
The swift clicking of keys was the only sound, other than her own breathing, that Mai could distinguish present in the room. Opening her eyes slowly, Mai noticed a dark figure sitting in a chair in front of the couch she was currently laying on.
Naru.
His neck was craned, in what looked the slightest bit uncomfortable, towards the book in his lap. Once he sensed her gaze on him, he looked up, a frowning blatantly.
"So you're finally awake, are you?" he inquired, a smile of feign happiness spreading across his beautiful face. He must be very angry to force himself to smile like that, Mai told herself, unconsciously sinking back into the crease of the couch.
The small book in his hands then closed with a snap, causing Mai to flinch in alarm. She opened her mouth to murmur an apology, but he beat her to it.
"How many times have I told you to take care of yourself? There's a reason why Bou-san and Matsuzaki-san taught you those chants and I expect to actually use them from now on–"
Mai had never seen her boss like this; frantic, worried, angry, disheveled beyond belief. And had he been waiting all this time just to lecture her? Wide-eyed, her mouth hung open in astonishment. She hadn't even known what had occurred since it had, after all, happened place so fast.
"How did I…What happened anyway?"
The note of confusion in her voice just seemed to anger him even more. His face became tight and severe as he leaned back into his chair. The rays of twilight hit his face, and only then had she noticed how pale he seemed.
"'What happened?'" he quoted with a hint of sarcasm in his deep voice, "You were attacked. Don't you remember?"
"I was attacked by him?" she asked incredulously, supporting herself on her elbows in an attempt to sit up.
"Yes," Naru said gravely, gaining his composure, "In broad daylight, no less. He's definitely serious about wanting you…"
"Geez, I can't believe the only guys I can attract are in the forms of ghosts." Naru looked up to gaze at her curiously, as if not hearing what she had said. Mai blushed and swiftly changed the topic, "Where's Ayako…?"
Naru sighed, an expression that confused Mai overcoming him. "She's resting in the next room over. She finally woke up, but is unable to move. The others are caring for her at the moment partly because I wanted to be alone with you," he said truthfully, but didn't realize how intimate he had actually sounded.
Mai flushed bright red. They weren't alone of course, Mai noticed as she looked over towards Lin. Before she could ask him why, her boss was already on his feet heading to the door.
"I'm going to get you some medicine."
And with that he had gone from the room and out of their sight. Mai sat up and turned to Lin who was gazing back at her expectantly. "He was worried," the Chinese man started slowly with what seemed to be a hint of warning on his voice.
"I'm sorry for always burdening you…" she began, but trailed off, her eyes landing on the messily drawn sutras pasted all over the walls. Bou-san must've been really worried.
"Naru made extra precautions," Lin said very abruptly, following her gaze.
"Naru…?" she said, shocked. "But why so many? It wasn't that bad just to be knocked out…"
"No, but–"
Lin paused as Naru threw open the door, a bottle of water in one hand and two orange-looking tablets in the other. After skillfully closing the door with his foot, he headed over towards her and sat down, handing her the pills first.
"When you were unconscious," he said, picking up where Lin had left off, "there was a series of earthquakes, power outages, wailing...but only in this house. Nagoya has not been affected."
"What about Tetsuya and–?"
"They're staying at a hotel room."
"Are we still doing the exorcism tonight?"
"Yes. You will have to stay down here. I don't want you to leave the protection of this room until I'm positive that we have exorcised the spirit. Is that understood?"
Unable to fight him, Mai gave a weak nod. "I understand, but what if I–"
"We're starting the exorcism at 8 o'clock sharp. Its 7:25 right now, so whatever you need to do, do it right now. At least take Lin with you, though."
Lin made a face of disdain, so Mai decided to be nice and spare him, "But," she started, "what if I have to do girl stuff…"
A slight blush played across her boss's cheeks. It might have been the first time she had ever seen him so flustered.
"Take Masako, then," he said turning away swiftly to hide his reddened cheeks. The tall Chinese man in the corner sent Mai a grateful smile, turning back to continue his work.
"Who's going to walk me over there, though?" she inquired innocently.
Afraid that there were still signs of embarrassment on his face, Naru ordered Lin to go.
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That night was one of the quietest Nagoya had ever seen in a long time. As if the usual, bustling city was waiting in anticipation. The streets suddenly sounded so quiet, the rush from the cars slowing as traffic picked up. It was late and the sun was beginning to set, letting its bright rays glare through the windows of the Fujisaki residence.
A nervous sweat began to form on Mai's palms even as she continuously rubbed them on her pants. There was this pit of uncertainty swelling deep inside of her stomach that churned with the sight of Naru's black pants on the monitor screen.
Why was he up there without her? Why was she always such a burden? Why was she always causing him trouble? Why was she never with him?
He seemed so close yet so far away to Mai, like she would never be able to reach him.
A soft sigh left her and a feeling of emptiness took place of it. She wanted to go up there and help, but she was being heavily guarded, as Naru had ordered.
Sensing her discomfort, Ayako, who was still unable to move and resting on the couch, grabbed Mai's hand in her own and squeezed as if to reassure her. Mai looked up, slightly surprised.
"We're all going to be okay. Naru, John, and even that god-forsaken idiot of a monk will all make sure everything turns out okay. Have faith in them," Ayako said, firmly.
Mai shook her head, uncertain, as tears stung the corners of her eyes. "But what if–"
"You know he's doing this for you…"
"No," the smaller girl denied, "It's his job. You know he always finishes cases no matter what. It's not…It's not at all because of me."
"You don't even know the half of it. That guy would do anything for you," Madoka came out of nowhere, a happy-go-lucky smile plastered to her face.
Mai blushed, but then realized what they were saying made absolutely no sense whatsoever. Suddenly she wasn't so sure they were talking about the same 'guy' anymore. She looked around to see if Masako or Lin had heard their embarrassing conversation.
Fortunately, Lin was watching the monitor and speaking with Naru on a two-way radio making sure everything was secure and set up. Masako, however, was looking straight at them, giving Mai an unexpected smirk.
"Matsuzaki-san and Mori-san are right, you know."
Mai gapped.
"Of course, I always am!" Ayako exclaimed, throwing her arms up. Madoka smiled wider now, having attained Masako's approval.
Mai mumbled to herself, "I'm not sure we're on quite the same page–"
"They're starting," she was interrupted by the deep monotone of Lin's voice.
Sighing in relief as he changed the subject for her, Mai grabbed a chair a positioned herself in front of the monitor watching with fascination as Bou-san and John began their own respective chants and prayers at the same time. Mai figured doing so individually wouldn't be quite as powerful.
'Please be safe…'
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There it was – that god-forsaken portrait. It had caused all of their pain, not only to him and Mai, but other team members as well. Naru unconsciously gazed at the back of Bou-san's head.
And he had promised Madoka to talk with Mai after the case was over about…their incidents. Putting more blame of the picture, Naru sighed in frustration slightly unwilling to think about how it might turn out.
"Naru," John started hesitantly, seeing his boss so immersed in his own thoughts. "Should we…?" he inquired seeing as how the man then lifted his head in recognition.
"Yes, please begin," Naru said, nodding at the two men in front of him. And so they did, their gazes directed towards the rather large painting propped against an old, moth-eaten couch.
The air became tense as they began to chant, the insignificant shine of Naru's flashlight flickering on and off, but nevertheless, he urged them on. "Don't stop!" he said loudly over the creaking of the old floorboards.
The walls began to rattle and shake causing them to pause momentarily, but with one stern look from Naru they were back on track, chanting as if they had never stopped.
Finally, as the two were finishing up, a board cracked beneath them and John's foot fell through. He yelled in pain.
Mai and Masako gasped as they watched on the small monitor of Lin's computer, Masako standing with a faint bit of horror present in her eyes.
"John, he…!"
But before Masako could finish, the screen went black, and the next thing the five of them know was the hard impact of the floor. The ground was shaking so hard that Lin's computer had been thrown onto the floor along with them.
"This is not good," Madoka shouted over the clatter. What the hell was Naru thinking, she wondered. Looking at the pile of what used to be Lin's laptop, she frowned. "We have to get out of here. This place is falling apart."
Ayako broke out into desperation, gabbing onto Mai's arm in fear. "What about the guys? They're still in the attic!"
"Mai!"
The door suddenly was slammed open by none other than Naru and behind him was a limping priest with Bou-san as a crutch.
Poor John had even lost a shoe while trying to pull his foot out of the broken floorboard. A small bit of blood trailed behind him and they soon identified it from his ankle which would surely be swollen for the next week or so.
"Naru, we have to get out of here," Mai said shakily, grabbing onto him.
"I know," he said, his tone the severest Mai had ever heard him. "Okay, women out first."
"But Ayako can't…!"
"Madoka, get John, I'll take care of Ayako!" Suddenly Bou-san had reached underneath the miko, picking her up effortlessly and walked out of the room first, Ayako's face flushing as red as her hair as he did so.
Madoka, smiled a little nervously at the priest that soon hung on her shoulder like a limp noodle and helped him out of the room. He apologized before they made their way behind Bou-san and Ayako.
Mai turned, "But Naru–"
A tremor shook the floor beneath them, knocking Mai off of her feet once more. Naru quickly caught her, his arm wrapped tightly around her waist.
"If you dare argue with me, I swear to God, Mai, I will cut your pay in half," he said, recovering. And with that, Mai was soon scrambling behind her fellow team mates.
Naru turned to Lin motioning for him to go, but Lin paused. "What about the painting?"
"It'll be destroyed in the quake. We'll burn the remains afterwards and purify the area. All of our things are in the van, so it's okay." Naru said, walking quickly behind the taller man as they made their way towards the exit.
Lin glared back at him. "Except my laptop," he mumbled incoherently. Naru seemed to smirk quickly before a look of panic arose on his face.
"LIN!"
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I'm so sorry for not updating in, like, a year! I've just been really busy with school…Oh, I got two scholarships, if that makes anyone feel better?
Anyway, I've already started on the next chapter, which will hopefully be the last, so don't worry about me taking a year to update again.
I'm so happy everyone reviews for my story! I'll be sure to post again soon!