A/N: Plot bunnies won't leave me alone, so this story emerges. This is my first attempt at Ghost Hunt Fic.
Title: The Ups and Down in the Life of Taniyama Mai
Pairing: NaruxMai
Summary: Mai is not as ordinary as she appeared to be – she has a secret and a latest case taken by the SPR forces her to lay it out in the open. Follow her as she and the SPR gang carried on in their ghost hunting adventures… Eventual NaruMai.
Disclaimer: Ghost Hunt is not mine, copyright belonged to Fuyumi Ono.
Chapter 3 – Case 1: The case of the Yukimura Clan, Part 3
"No! Hiro-niichan!" A shrill cry woke Mai out from her slumber as she tried to gather herself together, the dark surrounding and the light glow in the centre of it all clued her in on the fact that she's probably dreaming it all again. Thankfully, this time around it was not any of those first person viewpoint dream but as a third party observant kind of dream.
"Shut up, Ai! Our family has no room for a squib that can't perform magic! Now hurry along with your study, you do not want to keep your teacher waiting." The man had said his tone harsh and laced with a trace of anger while he spoke.
Ai suppressed the urge to throw back a sharp retort of her own before stalking off to the study of the house, careful to keep her face free from signs of tears and anguish while her inner self lashes out in anger and devastation. Her raw energy from her magic spun out of control literally as lamps and bulbs were shattered as she stalked down the corridor hallways leading towards the study's location.
The scene changes again as Mai found herself looking in onto a scene that reminded her of the series of 'Harry Potter' in the movies, in dimly lit area where the walls are made up of stones. Books were seen scattered all over the place, and parchments of writing could be seen littering all over the table. Mai inched in closer to take a look at what was being written on the parchments, and almost immediately reeled back in shock repulsion. The writing were of human sacrificial and the ritual procedure to bring one back from the realm of the dead, the art of necromancy.
Once Mai registered that idea in mind, she was pulled yet into another scenario. This time around, the image was of the study located in the eastern part of the mansion. How she determined that sheer fact, she wasn't sure – but she was certain in her affirmations. The same man from her first vision was now standing within the study facing an emotionless Ai, she could easily see that both of them had their wands out directing towards one another – a wizard's duel, somehow the term just flashed itself into Mai's consciousness.
The sound of the killing curse was heard coming from Ai's lips, as the thunder and lightning flashes outside of the building adding on to the creepy feel in the air. Mai placed both her hands on her mouth in shock to keep herself from gasping aloud, Ai had really loses it in the mind going to the extent of killing her own father to revenge on her dead brother. Laughter that belonged to a mental nut case escaped from Ai's lips, as her eyes turned into one that reflected insanity.
"Just hang in there, Hiro-nii… I'll get you back in no time, I swear!" Ai whispered to no one in particular, a chill ran down Mai's spine as she stared on in disbelief.
The next scenario that came into sight was the preparation for the ritual to begin, it was so horrible that Mai nearly turned away from the sight of it all but she willed herself to watch on – as it was probably a clue that will help them solve the case of the haunting. The ritual was mid-way in action when it was interrupted by an eighteen year old female – whom Mai suspected to be either a cousin or a sibling to Yukimura Ai. The two girls did look similar in an uncanny manner.
Mai watched on in silence as the two girls battled one another out, when it became apparent that nothing was going to stop Ai from completing the ritual. The elder girl had all but start chanting in an ancient language, sacrificing herself in the attempt while binding her soul to the wards of the house at the same time raising a dagger and stabbed Ai hard down in the chest killing Ai in the process of doing so. That was the last scene before Mai found herself slipping back out from the dreams, and starting to wake in reality.
Mai awoke from her sleep with her heart thumping wildly from her chest area, the dream scene replaying itself in her mind before she sprang upright to a sitting position and make a mad dash for the family library that's situated upstairs on the second storey of the western wing of the house. She was on a quest to go in search for a copy of the family tapestry, there is something bugging her and she have every intention to address the nagging thought in her mind.
"Wait up – Mai! Where are you going?! Naru said you are not supposed to be heading out on your own." Mai distinctively heard the sound of Ayako calling out for her while she sprints through the corridors, but she could hardly care about it all.
Moments later, she came back to the base room with a yellowish scroll under her arms and a stack of books in her arms. Behind her was another girl around Mai's age, long blonde hair being tied up into a pony tail as she pushed Mai back into the room.
"Mai, are you alright?" Ayako asked, as she pulled the dazed-like brunette to the sofa couch while the blonde girl took the items from Mai's grasp.
"I guess, you are Yukimura Sanae – the niece of Yukimura Mitsuo?" Naru asked, since the only people he didn't managed to interview the day before happened to be the niece of their client rumoured to be living in this mansion for most if not all of her time, and had yet to encounter any of the strange happenings.
"Yes, I am Yukimura Sanae. Before you asked, I will tell you everything that I know in a short while – but I think we had better do something about getting her out from the trance-like mode first." Sanae stated, while shooting a look towards Mai's direction.
"Mai… you have to snap out of it, what happened is already is the past. You cannot change them!" Sanae emphasized as she give Mai a tight slap on the cheeks waking the brunette up to face the present reality.
"But that is so horrible… how could he do that in front of Ai? Forcing her to watch her own twin being killed so naturally, what's wrong for being born a squib? Is the ability to do magic so important that it weighs more than the life of his flesh and blood?!" Mai questioned aloud, not really expecting an answer though.
"…Can someone please clue us in just what the hell was going on here and what is Mai droning on and on about?!" Ayako was beyond frustration, not a single word emitting forth from Mai's lips held any meaning to her or whatsoever and judging from the rest of the SPR members' expressions – neither of them do, anyway.
"Mai has a dream." It was Sanae that answered them all, but there was something else that she did not tell – about Mai sneaking into one of the memories stored within the family library. The memories kept within the family library are for documentation of important events that took place within the family, and among them included the primary cause to their current situation at hand.
The memories of Yukimura Asami - that was the pensive which Mai had the idea in mind to plunge into without any supervision. If she had not been alerted by the wards of the library about someone trespassing, and reached there in time to pull Mai out from the memories – the worst thing that could have happened to Mai was for the brunette to remain stuck where she was in that pensive of memories stored.
"I gathered as much." Lin muttered aloud to no one in particular, as he brings his laptop over to sit himself in front of the distraught brunette.
"Taniyama-san, look at me … can you recount what you'd seen earlier on in your dream to us?" Lin asked, keeping his tone serious and devoid of emotions as he did so.
Mai nodded, as she launched into a detailed recount of what she had seen happening in her dreams and some events from the memories of Yukimura Asami that she had chanced upon in the pensive with Sanae helping her to explain certain wizardry terms that no one else had any clues about. By the end of it all, everyone was solemn and in contemplation of the situation.
"So in short, we basically have a lunatic ghost of a witch to be dealing with?" The monk summarized after Mai completed her recount, if he had been sceptical about the existence of witches and wizards – his scepticism had been put to rest when Yukimura Sanae came out front with her 'wand' waving acts and several things started to move by them-selves.
Tea pouring and floating towards the people within the room, then pen started to write something down on the notepad without anyone holding it. PK cannot do that, Lin and Naru had confirmed then and then Mai added her own share of it by pointing a pointer wand to her own head withdrawing a silvery mist from her brain and placing it in an empty pot or sort – dragging all of them in to see for themselves what exactly did she witness in that dream of hers.
Disorientation is what everyone had felt after tumbling out from the memory scene, the monk felt like gagging when he thought back to the feeling he had had when being pulled into the memory scene. Masako ended up fainting after all, but probably was due to the process of the ritual as compared to the light-headed feeling from being dragged in and out of the memory scenes.
John and Ayako seemed horrified by the number of sacrifices made in that one ritual itself. Whereas Naru and Lin had managed to keep their features impassive, giving out no hinting as to their own emotional aspects upon those sights and Mai, on the other hand, was just blank and without emotions.
"You're a witch." Naru had stated flatly, upon the group's return from the memory walk.
Mai nodded to his statement, but her eyes were obviously averting from the narcissist. Yukimura Sanae laid a sympathetic hand on Mai's back, comforting the distressed brunette. The girl knew Mai was uncertain about the possible reactions from those friends that had now witnessed and see for themselves – the secret which Mai had been guarding them against for so long.
Almost instantly, Sanae had felt bad – if only she had been firm enough in her objections to have Yukimura Mitsuo moving in here with the rest of his family…the situation would not have escalate down to this point to have drag Mai in together with her newly found friends.
"Silly girl, why did you hide this from us?" The self-claimed priestess is the first to address the brunette, after soaking in all the recent happenings that had transpired.
"I don't know really… perhaps, I just didn't want to risk losing it all again." Mai responded, still not daring to look up at the SPR gang as of yet.
"Certainly, you are not thinking that we are going to cast you aside now that your secrets out in the open are you?" The monk started in on Mai next, incredulity apparent on his features as he addressed the brunette seated on the couch with every intention to avoid glancing towards their direction.
"Don't you people just think me a freak?!" Mai questioned back in return, agitation and distress rolling off her aura – feeling all her self-control on her magical sense slipping out of control.
"Mai, calm yourself down this instant!" Naru practically ordered, his tone commanding before softening down a notch in Mai's sense. "You are not a freak, so what if you are a witch in disguise of a normal being all these while?"
"Naru is right, if you being a witch could be considered for being a freak – then what does that leaves me?" Hara Masako added in her own penny in the situation, the ability of being a medium is hardly considered normal by usual human beings' standards.
"Masako…" Mai started, sounding slightly surprise upon the bratty medium's response. Relief flooded through her senses as she brings herself to look at each and every one of her friends, noting their reactions carefully while she did so. Neither of them seemed to be irked by her witch heritage, granted a little annoyance was present in them – but that was most likely pertaining to her decision to hide her heritage a secret from them.
"Thank you…" Mai eventually found herself saying, as she wept from the happiness that threatens to overwhelm her.
"Jou-chan, that's enough already… you've got to stop crying over this little things." The monk said, as he busied himself with the task of handling tissues over to the brunette.
"Well… excuse me for being a cry-baby then." Mai muttered under her breath, as she wiped her tears dried with the offered tissue paper before turning her attention back to the task at hand.
"Alright then, let's get back to the matter at hand – shall we?" Mai announced, after she managed to get her hay-wired emotions in check.
"Yes, but before that – Mai…" Naru started.
"Yes?" Mai looked up at the narcissist in question.
"Bring me some tea from the kitchen."
"…Argh! Some things just don't change, at all!" Mai growled aloud before stalking out from the base and headed towards the kitchen to get that royal highness of the SPR the tea that he requested.
With Mai out of the picture for the time-being, Naru instructed for Lin to take down notes while he conducted the long overdue interview with Yukimura Sanae.
In the meantime, John and the rest of the SPR members take the time to sift through what Mai had brought over from the family library. They took only a minute of time to locate that yellowish parchment, and rolled it out for all to see.
"Wow… I didn't know parchments this old still exists in the world…" John commented, as he took in the sight of the Yukimura's family tapestry drawing upon the yellowish parchment.
"Ah… that one eh, I see that Mai managed to duplicate it from the library. The actual copy of the tapestry is magically enchanted and sticks to the wall of the library – it cannot be taken off or taken out of that place." Yukimura Sanae took a moment to glance over at John, before responding to John's comment.
A crash sounded just outside the door, alerting everyone within the base to head over for an investigation. Turns out Mai had crashed head-on into the barrelling figure of Yukimura Rena, one of the six year old twins' daughters of the client. Yukimura Sanae sighed aloud, as she ventured forth to take the crying girl into her arms while Mai face palmed her-self upon the sight of the over-turned teapot that now lies on the ground.
"Rena… how many times must I say – to not run down the hallways?" Mai started warningly, but the six year old paid her no attention and instead started to ramble on about how she had missed the presence of Sanae.
"… Sanae, I think you'd best go back to the twins." Mai started in, and with a wave of her wand over the mess lay upon the ground – the initial over-turned teapot now was filled up again with newly brewed tea.
"Mai… I said for you to bring me a fresh pot of tea." Naru started to speak, only to have Mai cutting him off.
"I did bring you the tea, didn't I? Well, although it had overturned once but I had return it to its' original state already – haven't I?" Mai responded, not budging from her position at all.
Mai had no intention to head back down to the kitchen to get a new pot, especially she had chanced upon the return of Yukimura Mitsuo earlier on when she ventured to the kitchen to get the pot of tea for Naru done. Therefore she had opted for the alternative – to charm the pot with a spell to refill itself with freshly brewed tea whenever it was being emptied out.
With that done, the brunette proceeded to ignore Naru fully while she gathered everyone around to look over the family tapestry of the family. Explaining who is who while pointing to the names and making references to the figures being sighted earlier on in their trip with her down her memory lane using the pensive. (* refer to fig. 1 towards the end of fic for tapestry drawings)
"Okay… so this Yukimura Ai that we saw in your memory would be this particular one?" The monk questioned as he pointed a finger towards the name reflected on the tapestry that matches Mai's dream or memory, or whatsoever.
"Yes, I would believe so – so far no one else had been given a repeated name for that." Mai nodded her agreement to what the monk had just mentioned.
"Alright… judging from what we've seen in your dream memory of sort – this Yukimura Ai is already dead, right?" The monk continues on.
"It would appear to be the case, since the dagger did plunge in deep around the area of her chest. So unless by some miracle she managed to survive through that hideous wound, I would assume she's dead." Mai responded, matter-of-factly.
"So now maids are being said to have gone missing when they bustled around the place in the night-time, no?"
"Correct." Another nod of affirmation from Mai.
"No one had seen how it happened, only that the following day these maids on night shift duty could never be found within the estates again – no?"
"Once again, you are correct in your saying." Mai nodded to whatever the monk had managed to piece together using the reports gathered from the interview.
"Okay… then there's the issue of Yukimura Rika's tendency to have night-mare before the incident took place…"
"Exactly…" Mai echoed, while her mind started to ponder over the various possibilities that might have given them inkling to why it happened in this manner.
"Mai… is there a possibility of Yukimura Rika being gifted with ability like yours too?" John started, trying to see a link between those nightmares of Rika and the disappearance acts of the maids.
"That I am not too sure of, what we can be certain was that – all these ruckuses started around the same time that idiotic man decided to tear down the bloody door-way that he deemed beyond his standard of appreciation." Mai growled upon the thought of their client, causing the members of the team to fell into an awkward moment of silent while Mai fumed to herself.
"What is the purpose of that door-way and why was it built?" Someone had it in mind to ask, drawing the brunette back to the topic of discussion at hand.
"The doorway acted as a separator and divider between the two wings, it was built under the decision of Yukimura Asami but executed only after her death by her brother – Yukimura Akito. Heavy wards cast with powerful and pure white magic were on that door-way, it was said that the doorway helped to keep out the evil that lurks in the corner of the eastern wing. How exactly does it do that, I am not sure of it either. What I do know is that it was tied to the magic of Yukimura Asami whom sacrified herself in order to stop the ritual conducted by Yukimura Ai back then." Mai responded, the memories she had seen in the pensive was just part of the events that took place back in the past.
"Okay… so when the doorway is there, nothing this bizarre happened before?" John questioned next, the sheer idea of the existence of a door-way can help to ward off evil was something unusual for him so he was quite interested in finding out how it all worked.
"Well… not exactly, but the happenings weren't this frequent. In fact, the disappearances will only takes place within the eastern wing itself and only on days whereby there are people residing within the halls of the eastern wings." Yukimura Sanae spoke up when she came back into the room, after coaxing Rena off to bed.
"If the eastern wing is so unstable and dangerous, why is it that there are still people willing to reside in those halls?" Ayako voiced out her doubts next, not comprehending the situation at all.
"Those are people like uncle Mitsuo, him-self whom thought those legends of the eastern wing being haunted by darkness – bullshit." Mai muttered aloud from her unmoving position on the couch, sporting on a look of absolute detest.
"Mai… while I know you hated him with a passion to begin with, it still does not change the fact that he is our uncle." Sanae interjected, her tone gentle but reprimanding at the same time.
"So kind of you to be so forgiving towards him, after what happened with your father!" Mai shot back in defiance.
"Mai…!" Sanae snapped then, and Mai stopped in her mid-rant before apologizing for her behaviour.
"Hands off that book, I will help you with the research in that factor but you are going to have to stop flipping through those kinds of books – they are starting to affect you in more ways than one, contrary to what you may believe in otherwise." Sanae said warningly as she stepped forth to yank the book held in Mai's hand away by force.
"But Sanae…" Mai started to protest, only to have the blonde girl cutting her off mid-speech.
"Enough, you jolly well knows that everyone with the blood of Yukimura flowing through their veins would be vulnerable against the lure of the dark arts. My father and your mother are typical cases of it, while they managed to not fall into those traps – it costs them the drainage of their life energies as they fought the lure of the dark arts. I will not stand by and watch you suffer the same fate in silence, I am the only one immune by far – and you know it too. Now you go on and take a nap, I will explain things here to your friends." Sanae emphasized, as she send Mai off to bed while she took over the task of researching for the brunette.
Mai had no idea what was being said between both parties, but it seems like they have come to an agreement of sort to keep her out from the investigation process at all cost. The only thing that remained unchanged seems to be her duty of making tea for Naru that appeared to be the only thing she would be entrusted to do throughout the next three days that follows. Then at night, she would be sent off to bed with the Yukimura twins – much to her confusion and bewilderment. In response to her query when she finally have a chance to ask, Sanae had claimed that her duty while sleeping in the twins room was to guard them from the dangers using the reasoning that Mai has a very extensive and good knowledge on defence spells against the enemy. Naru, together with Lin had then seconded their opinion in sync with Sanae's decision – Mai could have sworn her jaw went slack then.
Day 6
"Mai, come in here for a second." The commanding tone of Naru reached Taniyama Mai just as she was contemplating on the option of going past the base, without the need to poke her head through the half-closed doorway.
"Yes? What is it? Do you need more tea to be served or what?" Mai grumbled as she stepped into the base where she had been forbid to enter with the exception of serving tea over the past three days.
"No, there's no need for tea to be served. I called you in here because a decision has been made – pertaining to the haunting." The sound of Yukimura Sanae's voice came instead of the unfeeling tone of that narcissist caused Mai to blink in confusion, before darting glances to and fro between the two.
"Okay… so what is it then?" Mai questioned, still confused by the way how Naru just seemed to step back and let Sanae speak on his behalf.
"We will be doing a purification ritual on the house, and that is where you come in." Sanae stated simply while she regarded Mai with calming eyes.
"Purification Ritual… would that actually work?" Mai tilted her head sideways as she wondered aloud.
"If done in the correct manner, it should work." Sanae responded in a calming and collectedly manner.
"Okay… so what do I have to do then?" Mai questioned, now finally getting the idea why she was called in when she had been forbidden to enter unless ordered in by Naru's commands from before.
"I will need you to draw out the formation with the use of runic terms." Sanae replied good-naturedly.
"Does that mean you would be the one conducting the ritual then?" Mai asked.
"Who else is there to do the job?" Sanae arched an eyebrow up in scepticism while Mai do a quick scan through of the members of the SPR before nodding in comprehension. It was true that no one else could be up for the task of conducting such a ritual, sealing ceremony for a ghost might be accomplishable by Lin but not a purification ritual.
"Fine, when do we start?" Mai nodded her agreement on this issue, and asked next.
"Tomorrow morning." Sanae responded, while making a move to leave the base.
"Huh? Tomorrow, why wait until then?"
"Because my dear… the ritual cannot begin until we finished all the necessary preparation work."
"Oh… so what are we going to do now – then?"
"Evacuation of the mansion's residents is the first thing that needs to be done. I shall leave that to the capable hands of you and your team, whereas I, on the other hand is going to get my hands on the preparation work of the ritual." With that said, the blonde removed herself from the group's view with the use of an apparition magic.