Chapter 28
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Thankfully Ayako was still asleep so I was able to get my clothes and change.
Afterwards I went back into base where Naru and Lin were. Naru had said last night we'd finish the case today...I wonder how. The others started trickling into base about half an hour after I had arrived. Monk had begun to tease me because I was up so early. Naru stepped in then though and he got right down to business.
"I think you all know the reason Yuki decides to possess people, correct?" There were a few confused looks coming from Monk and Ayako, and Naru sighed testily. "Do I need to explain?" I could see Monk and Ayako thinking about risking Naru's wrath for an explanation. Slowly they nodded. I smiled lightly and shook my head at them as Naru started to explain. All the while he was wearing a frown at the two.
"Ohh, so Yuki possesses people who want revenge like he did...or does with Mr Tsukiyomi!" Monk reiterated.
"Exactly." Naru sighed in a 'good grief how dumb are you?' tone.
"Well, what are we going to do then?" Ayako asked, looking a little flustered. I don't know what she has to be flustered about. Maybe it might be because she didn't figure out why Yuki was possessing people? She probably feels annoyed because of that.
"That doesn't explain why he possessed John though." Monk added. Everyone had stopped and thought for a moment.
"Maybe—wasn't John exorcising him at the time or something?" I suggested. "Maybe Yuki possessed John to stop him, but he would have only wanted to stop him if it was affecting him right? At least we know it works." The others mumbled in agreement.
"That has to be it...after all John wouldn't want revenge on anyone." Yasu commented.
"Yeah, he's way too innocent." Monk agreed. John just smiled, embarrassed.
"Back to the main point." Naru interjected. Everyone nodded obediently. "We need to exorcise Yuki sooner rather than later as it seems he has already started to become malevolent."
I bit my lip. "Can't we try to get him to crossover again rather than exorcising him?" I asked hopefully.
Naru shook his head. "It's already too late for that. The only way is to exorcise him."
I looked down and nodded. Ayako laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I looked up at her and smiled sadly. Monk then gave me a bear hug.
"Oh, Mai! It's okay!"
"Get off her, you perverted old man!" Ayako shouted at him as she hit him.
"I'm not perverted or old! I just wanna hug my cute little Mai!" Monk exclaimed as he rubbed his head.
"And that last statement says it all." Ayako argued. Monk opened his mouth to retort, but Naru interrupted.
"When you two immature idiots have quite finished, John, I would like you to go prepare for the exorcism."
John nodded. "Right."
"Takigawa, Miss Matsuzaki, I want you to be ready also in case Yuki tries to possess John again." They both nodded and left to get ready along with John. I turned to Naru. He was back looking at that black book of his. I seriously think he should consider getting surgery to remove that. I smiled and gave a quiet giggle. Apparently it wasn't quiet enough though as Naru looked at me frowning. I stopped and covered my mouth trying to act like nothing happened. Naru narrowed his eyes at me before looking back down at his book, shaking his head. "I should make you take a mental test..." He mumbled to himself.
"Excuse me?!" I shrieked.
Naru smirked. "You heard."
I gave him a glare and pouted, crossing my arms. That made him smirk even more. "Stop smirking at me!"
He said nothing in return, only going back to that black book of his.
"What do I do, Big Boss?" Yasu asked. My eyes darted to the other sofa and I blinked. Yasu was actually quiet—surprise, surprise! I forgot he was here... Naru looked a little surprised too although he of course hid it. Yasu just sat there grinning. It was creepy.
"Just stay there for now, Yasuhara..."
"Naru...I need to go toilet." I piped up. Naru glanced over at me and raised an eyebrow just as the others were coming in.
"Didn't you just go when you were getting ready for today?"
"No, I didn't need to go then."
"Hold it." Naru ordered as he stood up along with Lin. I heard Yasu snicker.
"I can't!" I shrieked. Naru gave me a stern look while I gave him pleading eyes. Yasu stood up and raised his hand.
"I can take her." Naru sighed and gestured with his hand for Yasu to do that. I grinned and grabbed Yasu's arm pulling him out of base, but I stopped at door.
"Naru... Please do the exorcism while we're gone... I don't want to be here when it happens." Naru just nodded his head so I continued to drag Yasu out. I paused slightly when we got outside the door.
"Mai?" Yasu asked. "You don't actually need the toilet, do you?"
I snapped my eyes up to him for a bit before slowly lowering my gaze back down. "No...not really."
"Didn't think so." I sighed and walked a few steps away from the base door and leaned against the wall.
"I just didn't want to be there when the exorcism took place." I admitted. Yasu came and stood beside me.
"Why didn't you just tell Big Boss that?"
"Because he probably wouldn't have let me off if I'd told him that."
Yasu shook his head. "You don't seriously believe that do you? Before Masako got possessed and she was trying to talk to Yuki, he got you out of there."
"Yeah, but only because Yuki was saying horrid things."
"That doesn't matter. He still wouldn't want you in there if it was going to upset you." He scolded me slightly. "You know that."
"But I don't know, Yasu. He's not always that considerate towards me." Yasu closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. Then he smiled.
"What?" I asked skeptically.
"I think you're not giving Big Boss enough credit." He said.
"Maybe. Who knows."
"Ah, Mai. Simple Mai..."
"You know, I think I will go to bathroom after all." I declared then I mumbled, "Anything to get away from the rest of that sentence."
Yasu blinked a little disappointed at being cut off, but he bounced right back. "Alright then, let's go."
We started walking towards the bathroom.
"You didn't have to come with me you know..." I began.
"And if I don't then Big Boss will skin me alive."
I gave him an apologetic look before waving his reply off. "There're no spirits to come and attack me right now."
"That may be, but still..."
"You're just taking precautions in case Naru found out you left me alone right?" I grinned, knowingly.
"Yeah, well, wouldn't you?" I smiled and rolled my eyes. We finally reached the bathroom and I went in. I closed the door behind me and did what I needed to do. When I got out I couldn't see Yasu anywhere. I furrowed my eyebrows. That's weird...I thought he said he wasn't going to leave? I heard a slight groan and looked down to glimpse Yasu on the floor before feeling a sharp pain in the back of my head and everything going black.
Naru...help... I felt myself fall before I fell unconscious.
Pain. That's all I felt upon slowly coming back to consciousness. My head felt like it was breaking into a million pieces. I let out a small whimper as I tried to move. I couldn't though; it hurt too much to.
"Ah, so you're finally awake." A voice declared. I managed to crack my eyes open to see a blurry figure. "Now, now Miss Taniyama, it won't do to have you see me." The voice said before the figure moved and wrapped a thick piece of fabric around my eyes and then tied it tightly. I winced as it was put on. My head really, really hurts. I tried to move my hands, but they were tied up too. I heard a soft, sinister chuckle come from behind me. I shivered from the sound.
"Do I make you nervous, Miss Taniyama?" The voice asked. I lifted my head up, still not speaking yet. I...I've heard that voice before... I decided to do the only thing I could think of against all rationalization, I started shouting.
"HELP! SOMEBODY!"
"Scream all you want, Miss Taniyama, but no-one will hear you." The voice said coolly.
"And why's that?" I breathed.
"I would think the reason is fairly obvious." The voice responded. I furrowed my brows, trying to concentrate through the throbbing headache. "My God, that boy was right, you really are stupid if you can't work out why you can scream and no-one will hear you."
"I am not stupid. You're the one who's stupid, kidnapping someone like this!"
"It is not stupid to kidnap someone."
"Yes, it is. Think of the penalty you'll get when my friends come and find me!" I winced as I realized I spoke a little too loud for my headache.
"Who says they are going to find you?" The voice asked softly.
"I know they will." I insisted firmly. Wait...I know that soft tone of voice...
"Believe me, Miss Taniyama, they won't. Not after I'm done with you."
"And what exactly do you plan on doing..." I asked, trying to sound calm, but it wasn't really helping any. "Mr Tsukiyomi?"
"So, you've finally figured out who I am." Mr Tsukiyomi said. "I plan on stopping you and your little friends from sticking your noses any further into my business." He stated. "I invited you here to exorcise that pest Yuki, but instead you all seem determined to play detective and find things that you shouldn't know about so I obviously have to send your little group a message about that."
"By kidnapping me? Why me?"
"Oh no, my dear, I'm not kidnapping you. I'm getting rid of you permanently otherwise what kind of message would I be sending?" I felt tears began to brim around my eyes and I did my best to keep from shaking in fear.
"Why me?" I whispered. Of course I'd rather it be me than anyone else, but he did already knock out Yasu...so that didn't he choose him? He had waited for me to come out of the bathroom.
"'Why you' you ask, because you are the heart of your little group of snoops." Mr Tsukiyomi told me. "Who better to remove first?!" I couldn't help but be a little confused. Heart of the group? I heard Mr Tsukiyomi step closer to me. My breath got caught in my throat. I didn't want him anywhere near me. "Afraid of me, Miss Taniyama?" He asked.
"No."
He let out another sinister laugh. "Oh, I think you are." He declared.
"No...I'm not." I protested.
"So if I do this you won't do anything?" He asked amused, chucking darkly, as I felt him caress my cheek. Unable to stop myself I flinched and let out a small whimper. He laughed again. He brushed his fingertips against my cheek before he pulled away. "It's a shame I have to kill a pretty thing like you, but I guess that's just the way it has to be." He sighed.
"No, it doesn't! You don't have to, you didn't have to kill Yuki either! Don't you feel the slightest bit guilty about what you're doing?!" I yelled despite my pain.
"Guilty? Of course not, I'm just doing what I need to in order to protect myself."
"There are other ways besides killing people!" I snapped. "Just because Yuki decided to back out of whatever you were doing didn't mean you had to kill him!"
"What would you know?! You're just a nosy little girl who can't keep quiet. I don't know how you found out about that, but it will be the last thing you and your little friends will stick your noses into."
"You're such a heartless man!" I cried out angrily. I knew I shouldn't have provoked him in any way, but I couldn't stop myself.
"Oh you think so huh?! I may be heartless, but at least I keep my nose where it belongs, out of other people's business."
"We're not..." I started to shout before he slapped me.
"That's enough backchat out of you, I think." He said before I felt him force my mouth open then stuff something in it which he tied behind my head. I tried to speak, but I couldn't. It just came out in incoherent mumbles. I began panicking even more now. Naru! Help me!
Naruisawesome: Hi...
Treelow955: We're so sorry for the late update...
Naruisawesome: Yes, we are! But we updated now! ^_^
Treelow955: True! And we even made Mai get kidnapped!
Naruisawesome: ...Is that really a good thing? She might get killed!
Treelow955: *Shrugs* I don't know!
Naruisawesome: *Rolls eyes*
Treelow955: Please review!
