Mai slowly opened her eyes, curious about the noise around her. She lifted her head from the table just to see Masako walk into the room. On the other side of the room, Madoka and Ayako were now taking care of the monitors. "What happened?" She asked. The sound of her voice made Ayako turn around. "Ah, Mai, I think you just took a nap."
"No wonder, after such a day." Madoka added.
"How do you feel?" Masako asked. Mai smiled at her friend. "Fine, I guess. But where's the rest." The medium shrugged. "Gene kidnapped them from me. I'm scared of what he's planning with that grin on his face."
"Speaking of grinning, Mai was grinning the whole time she was asleep." Ayako stated.
"I had a pleasant dream, ok?"
"About the case?" The conversation continued.
"No, a normal dream. A weird normal dream."
"What was it about?" Masako asked as she took a seat next to Mai. Mai hesitated at first slightly embarrassed but then told her friends about the dream. Madoka started at the girl in awe then started laughing hysterically. Ayako joined her.
"Stop laughing at me!" Mai blushed. Madoka actually had a hard time catching her breath. "It's just...Mai, that actually happened. You thought…. that was a dream?" She managed while still laughing in between. "Wait, what? Mai, that's great." Masako started. "But I have to admit that's not like Naru at all."
"What's not like me at all?" Naru asked as he walked into the room. "Nevermind. I can guess." He added before anyone could answer him.
"Maybe Gene has some kind of influence on him." Ayako suggested.
"That's weird because he never seemed to have any before." Madoka commented.
Naru ignored the comment. Instead, he took another monitor and ordered the girls to take the rest of the equipment. They were finally going to head back to the hotel for the day.
Inside the car, Mai has fallen asleep again. Now she could use Naru's shoulder without hesitation. "I've been thinking." Gene started. "Weren't you just jealous that Yasu and I got together like after a month of knowing each other? Because then it would make sense why you confessed to Mai earlier than you planned."
Naru let out a sigh knowing that he will have to deal with his brother until they get to the hotel. "And how do you know when I was planning to 'confess' to Mai? If even that is."
"Come on. Everyone says how this wasn't like you. It's obvious you kinda forced that."
"Gene, do you know what I regretted the most after you disappeared?" Gene shrugged. "How I would always kick you out of my room when you would come to talk to me." Naru explained. After that Gene stayed silent as he figured what his brother meant.
"But why now? From what I've heard y'all went through much worse things."
Naru glared at his brother without hesitation. He hoped the conversation was over. He wasn't good at talking about his feelings. "You know I've only realized or accepted, whatever you want to call it, my feelings recently. Moreover, I couldn't enjoy anything fully knowing you were still missing."
Gene's expression turned sad. "Let's just make the most of what we have." He suggested. Naru nodded slightly. "I know I probably should leave this topic be but don't you think our lives are quite unique?" Gene tried to lighten the mood. "Not at all." His brother answered. "Yeah, I mean not to us but imagine how boring the lives of some people are. Meanwhile here we are dealing with the paranormal and cheating death."
Madoka finally decided to join the conversation. "Could you imagine living that kind of life? You wouldn't have to worry about your friends and loved ones." Gene laughed this idea off. "Naru couldn't for sure. He would die of boredom. And can you imagine going back to normality now, Madoka?"
The woman shook her head. "Once you're in there is no way out." She smiled. "You can't just not notice the paranormal. And you can't really ignore it either."
Back at the hotel. As much as everyone wanted to reflect on the events of the day, they also wanted to sleep. They wanted to take a rest. To be at peace just for a little. "You can use the bathroom first, Mai." Masako said as the two girls arrived at their room. "Thanks. I'll need this. We can talk later." The other girl answered as she fought the wish to just collapse onto the bed. Mai quickly collected her stuff and disappeared in the bathroom. Masako sat on the edge of the bed and took a deep breath in. "Another story to tell." She smiled slightly.
Once Mai got out of the shower it was Masako's turn. And once she, too, was done she joined Mai in her silence. Both of them just sat on the bed saying nothing. "It was a tough day, wasn't it?" Mai started. "It sure was." Masako agreed. "A lot happened in these few days." She continued. "It was so quiet in the beginning...but then you've been taken to the hospital, then school and the whole thing with the ouija board. I'm happy we finally got a break."
"Me too." Mai answered. "And I'm so sorry for making you worried again. I always do something stupid. This time I almost got squished." Masako moved closer and hugged Mai tightly. "I feel like that's a part of you we won't be able to change. But we will try our best to keep you safe. And we got something good out of it. You and Naru finally got together." She tried to cheer the girl up as she was obviously feeling guilty. "Yeah, I still can't believe it. But I've been thinking, would Ichika really try to hurt an innocent person just because she wanted revenge. I heard her. She wasn't resentful in her last moments. Just pitiful." Mai tried to reason.
"That's something we can discuss tomorrow, Mai. And don't you try to change the topic. You're gonna tell me everything I missed." Masako hugged the girl tighter before letting go. "So will you." Mai answered and the girl sat there until midnight talking and laughing before losing the last of energy they had and giving in to sleep.
Mai woke up around one am tired but not able to fall back asleep again. She got up and started wandering around. In the room, then outside. She finally stopped in front of Nauru's room. Hesitantly, she knocked on the door and waited for a bit. Just as she decided to back off and go back to her room the door opened. "Mai? Why aren't you sleeping?" Naru asked as he saw the girl. "I was. But I woke up." She said. Her voice was shaking but she didn't know why. "Did you need anything?" His voice was quite gentle. "No, not really. I will just go back." Naru grabbed her hand, not letting her go anywhere. That's when he noticed Mai tried to avoid eye contact in any way possible. He quietly stepped out of the doorway and closed the door behind him as to not wake John up.
"Why were you even awake?" Mai murmured. "That's not important. Mai something bothers you. Just tell me." The girl remained silent. "It's ok. Trust me."
Mai finally looked the boy in the eyes as her own filled with tears. This took Naru aback. "Naru we are together right?" She asked through silent sobs. The boy nodded as he wrapped his arms around the girl and pulled her into a hug. "And you're happy with that? With me?" She kept going. "Of course Mai. It couldn't be anyone else." He answered. "And if I ever needed a hug or just wanted to tell you 'I love you' I can just come to you, right?"
"Whenever you need." He felt the girl relax a bit.
"And you won't just disappear, right?"
"No. I'll never leave you."
"Can you say..ummm it again?" She asked, a little embarrassed. Naru smiled. "You don't have to ask. I love you."
"I love you too, Naru." The girl pulled away, now smiling.
"Feeling better?" Naru asked, still holding her hand.
"Yes, much better. I don't know what I was thinking." She blushed from embarrassment.
Naru rolled his eyes. How did this girl have the energy this late at night? "You should go get some rest, Mai. You had a rough day."
"You're right." She agreed. "Masako will worry if she wakes up and I am not in bed. You also should take some rest. Wasn't reading in the dark bad for the eyes or something?"
"I will." The boy answered. He waited for the girl to get to her room but Mai didn't seem to want to go. "Do you want a goodnight kiss, Mai?" He asked teasingly. "Huh?" The girl blinked in confusion. "I was waiting for you to go back in." She explained. "Well, I was going to wait until you get to your room."
Mai laughed. "Okay, I'll give it to you. See you tomorrow, Naru." The girl waved as she started walking back. She however turned right back and gave Naru a kiss on the cheek before disappearing behind the door of her room.
"Goodnight, Mai." Naru said softly. Still, he couldn't help but smirk as he too disappeared behind the closed door.
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This chapter is a day late. (Actually a month or two.) I finally got my two weeks off and I'm sick. Why not. I'll do my best to update as much as possible in these two weeks. Thank you for all these comments. They do motivate me a lot.
As always, I hope you will like this chapter. And thank you for reading.