Chapter 23

"Hmm… let me see. We'll have Monk, Ayako, Madoka, Lin, and you so that makes five, right?" Mai counted on her hand.

"No, Mai that makes six." Naru said in return as they entered their local grocery store and they headed right to the frozen section.

"What? Did I miss someone? Remember Yasuhara can't make it." Mai commented counting on her fingers again.

"I know that, Mai. Unless you just plan to sit and watch the rest of us then you have to count yourself." Naru replied and Mai finally understood.

"Oh yeah and me! We have plenty of rice at home, but we'll still need vegetables. Maybe some kind of meat, but not all of us eat meat though. What kind of meat should I get? Or maybe some fish…" Mai spoke somewhat to Naru, but mostly just voiced her thoughts out loud.

'Somehow I feel like she's ignoring me.' Noll thought to himself.

"How long do you intend to contemplate this meal?" He asked completely avoiding her poorly aimed question.

"Oh hush you! You're just grumpy because Madoka made you close the office early today so we could all eat dinner together. Now stop pouting and help me. OH! They have a sale on salmon, perfect!" Mai scurried off to the frozen section, and her employer followed.

Mai scurried over to the butcher who was cutting up a few pieces of a fresh batch, and Mai waited patiently for him to finish. She watched as he raised the knife with expert precision, and made cut after cut after cut. The creatures' wide, lidless eye stared back at her for a surreal moment, and she saw that it was bathed in its own blood.

'Please, help me.'

Mai whirled around and let her panicked eyes search for the source of this desperate plea.

In this moment she was aware of Naru's presence, but he was no different from a shelf or a box of cereal, just a part of the background. She looked back over to the butcher who was still cutting away, and a bit of blood splashed onto his apron.

'Please! Don't kill me. PLEASE!'

Now she knew there was no way she could have imagined it.

That voice was female, and it sounded so familiar, but she couldn't place it. Her hand rose to her key, and she didn't feel any disturbances in the charm.

'It would be extremely difficult for a spirit to reach me now with the charm in place, and even if they did my charm would be scratched or broken physically as a result. I know I heard her, but from where?' Mai's thoughts ran rampant for what felt like hours, but in reality, had only been a minute or two.

"Miss, can I help you?" A voice called to her, and she was back in the grocery store once again.

"Oh yes, I'd like some salmon please." Mai said her voice a bit shaky still.

Naru, who stood back and observed the entire episode watched her carefully. He knew something had disturbed her spiritually from the way she held onto her key just moments ago.

'I'll have to wait until later to ask her.' Naru thought to himself hoping that she wasn't suffering anymore PTSD from their previous case.

The time that passed since the last case hadn't been easy. There'd been a number of nights where she'd wake up and scream until he'd come in. Or if not, he'd hear her mulling around in the kitchen at extremely early hours obviously awoken by unimaginable horrors.

It was like staring in a mirror some days. Growing up with psychometry left him in similar states as a child. The restlessness. The world full of hidden triggers. Sounds or even smells could bring him back to terrible visions.

Mai needed help. Professional help.

She was making a poor attempt at hiding it from them. Pretending that she was coping well and taking it all in stride. However, it was clear nowhere near enough time had passed for her to be back to her old self.

Naru was doing his best, even disguising some therapy techniques as 'mental exercises' for psychics. But it wasn't going far enough. Part of him even wondered if working in this field was bad for her. That thought scared him in a way that made him feel disgusted with his own selfishness.

Because he wanted her around.

"Come on Naru, we need some more things. Do we still have tofu?" She called, voice still shaking, and he proceeded to nod and follow behind her.

"Oh, you two are back? Good. Mai, Ayako and I went through your clothes and picked an outfit for you to wear tonight." Madoka called from the living room. Mai placed the bags on the counter and continued her way into their apartment. She wasn't used to the idea that this space could occupy so many people. At most four people would be here at once, including herself, and if Monk and/or Ayako were over Naru would be shut up in his room to avoid the noise.

"Yeah, I'll check those out in a minute. I have to at least put the rice on and start seasoning the fish." Mai said pointing to the bags of groceries.

"Oh please, let Naru or Lin cook, and we can help you get ready. Besides aren't your friends going to be here soon? You won't have time to do it all." Madoka reasoned and Mai looked over at the silent duo, amazed at how they could just gravitate to one another. Lin nodded as if to signal that he could handle it and began looking through the bags of groceries.

"Thank you, Lin, I promise I'll cook next time. You always cook for us." Mai said thankfully and he sent her a kind smile.

"It's really no problem. Think of it as a tradeoff. I cook and you keep Madoka busy for a while." He joked and Mai laughed with him.

"Hey!" Madoka called and Mai laughed harder. Mai was pleased with how far she and Lin's relationship had come. From his contempt for her when they first met to him checking her homework at the office, and especially the two of them laughing at Naru's bad habits.

"Come to your bedroom Mai and start trying on clothes." Ayako called and the other two girls followed. Once Mai stepped in and Ayako shut the door behind her. Mai looked around her room for any laid-out clothes and saw none. She turned around to ask the two women where the outfits they'd picked out were only to see two devilish expressions.

'This can't be good.' Mai thought knowing that some mischief was definitely afoot.

"Did you bring them Madoka?" Ayako asked as she started to pull makeup out of her bag and lay it out on Mai's bureau.

"Of course." Ayako reached into her purse and pulled out several articles of clothing. Mai walked over to the bed and held up one piece that was filled with holes in all the right places. Madoka then dumped a few other bundles of clothes down.

'Oh my goodness, which one do I put my head through?' Mai blushed looking at the dress and looked at Ayako.

"You d-don't expect me to w-wear just this do you?" Mai stuttered.

"Oh of course not, you'll be wearing heels and cute makeup too." Ayako said and she and Madoka shared a knowing laugh.

'This is going to be a long night.' Mai worried to herself before the two forced her out of the clothes she was currently wearing.

Monk had been occupying himself with a book on the history of Buddhism in foreign countries while Lin had finally finished the meal for the night and began setting the table for six. Naru seemed to be reviewing a manuscript for his father.

"Noll, inform the women that dinner is ready." Lin called as he moved to start washing up the dishes. Noll looked up from his reading briefly and finished the passage he'd been reading. He rose, dog-eared his page, and left his work on the coffee table.

As he started down the hall, he could hear music and giggling. He knocked loudly and could hear a squeak that was definitely Mai's. The door swung open quickly and Ayako narrowed her eyes at the boy.

"Why are you here?" She said distastefully.

'She asks me why I'm in my own apartment.' Noll thought sarcastically as he held his tongue know that Satan herself (Madoka) was on the other side of that door too.

"Dinner is ready." Was all he said before turning on his heels and left them to their idiocy. After a few minutes, the girls returned to quite a peculiar site, well at least Mai. The other two wore suspicious looks on their faces, and Mai came out with her hair and makeup done flawlessly but was wearing a robe.

"Mai why aren't you dressed?" Monk asked looking at Ayako knowing she'd definitely had a hand in it.

"Oh I um… don't know what I'm going to wear to the party yet so I just decided to put on a robe for now." Mai lied smoothly for once in her life.

'Not a complete lie.' Mai held to herself.

"Thanks for cooking for us Lin it's great as always!" Madoka said sending the Chinese man a flirtatious look. Mai sighed on Lin's behalf unable to imagine how he could handle her feistiness on a day-to-day basis. They all sat down as Madoka helped Lin bring over the dishes of food.

'I have to admit that I'm glad Lin cooked, this looks flawless.' Mai thought to herself as the food was passed between friends.

"Oh yes, Mai do you know the date of your graduation? I have to put in for that day early at work." Ayako asked as she poured herself some water from the ice-cold pitcher.

"Oh, uh… I believe it's June 7th. It's on my calendar in my room, so I'll double check before you go." Mai said and Ayako nodded.

"I can't believe you'll be graduating and taking college exams soon. It seems like just yesterday we met and you didn't know anything about ghost hunting." Monk said and they shared a sentimental look accompanied by light laughter.

"Yeah, back when she had that cute short hair and that big fat attitude." Ayako said with even hardier laughter a few of the others shared laughs and smiles.

"Can we change the subject?" Mai asked rolling her eyes playfully.

"How about your exam paperwork? Have you handed the forms to all your colleges yet?" Madoka asked her.

"Yes, I'm all caught up and I know all my deadlines. Lin and Naru have been helping me a lot with that stuff. Naru's been like a drill sergeant with all of my deadlines though." Mai said and pointed her chopstick at her boss accusingly.

"You can't afford to be clumsy with this kind of thing Mai. This is your future we're talking about." Lin said.

"I know you two mean well." Mai said smiling at Lin briefly and even giving Noll a few long glances of appreciation. Suddenly there was a knock at the apartment door, which made them all stop and look around, finally, something clicked in Mai's head.

"Oh! Yeah, that's probably Michiru and Keiko!" Mai called as she grabbed a bunch of food and shoved it into her mouth, and ran to the door.

"Mai, aren't you going to eat with us?" Ayako asked obviously a bit disappointed. Mai held her hand over her face to try and keep all the food in her mouth.

"I'lg magh ih up to yofgh guyes!" Mai replied as she ran over to the door and opened it up.

"Mai!" Both her friends squealed as they hugged her. Mai waved them inside and ran to her bedroom leaving her two friends stranded. The rest of the gang who was sitting and eating were left staring at the pair.

"Good evening, everyone." Keiko said bowing and Michiru was quick to catch on and join her friend in greeting them. Monk wiped his mouth and pushed his chair backward.

"All right girls. Now there will be no drinking since you're all under aged. Absolutely no taking drinks from strangers. No drugs of any kind, and definitely no smoking of any kind. Let me remind you that I have eyes everywhere and know exactly where this party is. Don't think I won't make a surprise visit because there are no lengths, I won't go to embarrass Mai. In fact…" Monk started but Mai arrived back just in time to stop him from telling her friends any humiliating stories.

"Alright, Alright Monk. Enough harassing my friends! Come on let's go guys." Mai said as she walked out her hair in perfect brown waves. Her robe was now gone and she wore a tight long sleeved short dress with two small diamond shapes cut out of the hips. The dress stopped six inches above her knees.

"You picked the black one! It looks great on you." Madoka hollered over to her friend who then blushed lightly. Noll, on the other hand, had been transfixed by the girl as soon as she stepped back into the room.

Noll's mind was disturbingly blank as he watched her striding out the door. She looked like a woman, nothing like the clumsy school girl he was accustomed too. He definitely had never seen the dress she was wearing before, and it had Madoka written all over it. Mai would never buy an article of clothing that was not versatile and practical.

For once he was not complaining about his mentors meddling.

Mai looked beautiful. However, Noll was not thrilled about her leaving the house looking that good. He was sure the emotions playing out inside his guts were doing something strange to his face.

' This is unsettling to say the least.' Noll thought to himself. He could feel his breathing and pulse change at the site of her let alone what he could imagine touching her would be like.

Now that thought really surprised him.

"I think it's a bit short to be honest, but we're in a rush. Oh and sorry Ayako I can't wear those heels. I wouldn't make it halfway down the hall with those skyscrapers, so I just chose my black sandals." Mai said lifting up a foot and showing off her selection.

Mai let her eyes wander over to her boss and his gaze was already on her. His face was shocked! Actual shock! The stony-faced narcissist mouth was ever so slightly ajar and his eyes were wide.

"You still look so hot Mai!" Ayako complemented with two thumbs up making Mai's blush deepen. She didn't know if the shock on her roommate's face was a good sign or not, but she didn't have the time to mull it over anymore.

"For real this time let's leave. We're already like half an hour late, let's go! Before you say anything, I'll text you. Monk, I promise we'll be good just don't show up okay!" Mai yelled behind her as she tugged her friends out the door and the two frantically waved goodbye before being dragged off my Mai's determination.

"It's not her I'm worried about. It's those filthy teenage boys." Monk muttered under his breath and he stabbed around his plate passive aggressively.

Mai had never seen so many people in such a small space in her entire life. Which says a lot considering she'd rode the rush hour train in and out of Shibuya before. The place reeked of alcohol and sweat, and the music was so loud she could barely hear herself think.

The three girls looked at each other sheepishly as they looked around to pick out some familiar faces.

"WOW, THIS PLACE IS SO CROWDED!" Mai yelled over the music to her friends and they both nodded.

"HEY, YOU GUYS MADE IT!" The three turned around and Keiko's face lit up. Pushing his way through was Kasai who saw the trio and smiled. He pulled Keiko in for a hug as soon as he was close and smiled at the other two. He looked around and pointed toward the back of the house, and waved for the girls to follow.

'This is my first time actually meeting him. He seems nice enough.' Mai thought to herself as her eyes wandered down to the two holding hands. Once they pushed through the crowd and back further into the house things grew a bit quieter.

"I could definitely believe that everyone who goes to our school is here." Michiru said looking a bit overwhelmed.

"Definitely. Oh yeah, Mai, you're always working so this is your first time meeting Kasai isn't it?" Keiko said realizing her mistake.

"I mean she talks so much about you I feel like I know you already. I'm Taniyama Mai, but you can just call me Mai. Everyone does." Mai said and bowed lighted and Kasai returned the gesture.

"Well then, since we're on a first name basis now you can just call me Kasai." He voiced in return.

"I remember when you were just that cute guy who worked at the clothing store, and now look at you guys. You sure work fast Mr. Kasai, so I'll have to keep my eye on you." Mai joked and the three of them laughed at Keiko's blushing expense.

"Mai! Don't tell him that!" Keiko yelled and shoved playfully.

"Anyway, where is the bathroom in this place? I drank way too much tea today." Mai voiced looking around.

"Oh yeah, it's down that way. Be careful though, when I got out of it last time a girl went in who was looking a little green." Kasai replied with a cautious face.

"Eww." Michiru said and Mai sighed.

"Nice, I'll go scope it out. Hopefully, I'm not a little green after using it." Mai answered and started to go, but Michi grabbed her arm.

"I'll come with you." Michiru said.

"Are we really those girls who can't pee without each other at a party?" Mai asked with a sarcastic expression on her face.

"Whatever, just walk." Michiru replied and push Mai playfully toward the kitchen exit.

"Hey, girls Kasai and I are probably going to get some fresh air while you too are gone." Keiko said and with that, the pairs separated.

His heart rate picked up as the two finally were in his eyesight. Was it time yet? Was he supposed to act now? There had been so many girls that fit the description of long brown hair and short, but he hadn't been close enough to see if any of them had brown eyes. This was going to be more difficult than his son had explained it to him the other day.

'I really don't want to hurt anyone. I really don't.' The man in the shadow of an alleyway said to himself. He could see a girl with his son across the street. They were in front of a bustling house that was filled with so many people. He reached for his brown paper bag and took a swig of the liquor.

He knew it had to be soon, and there was no way it could be a coincidence that his son had brought this girl outside.

It would be soon. Very soon.

"I take it back. I'm happy that you came with me. That was the grossest thing I've ever seen in my life." Mai said true to her word looking a bit green.

"I wish I could say the same. I wish I stayed my clingy butt in the kitchen. That was disgusting." Michiru replied and visually shivered.

"Hey Michiru!" A voice called as the two wandered down the hall.

"MICHURU!" They yelled again, but this time both girls turned. A soon as Michiru turned she could feel her face heat up.

"Oh my goodness! Mai it's the boy who invited me! What do I do?" Michiru spoke in a panicked low voice.

"You thank him. Just talk to him like he's nobody special." Mai said and winked her eyes just as the boy arrived.

"Sota! Hey you!" Michiru said awkwardly.

"Hey yourself. You're Taniyama right?" Sota asked and Mai only nodded.

"You guys look great! Thanks for coming." He spoke mostly looking at Michiru.

'I feel like I should leave these two alone, but Michiru is really nervous. Hmm…. decisions decisions.' Mai pondered as her eyes moved between the two.

"Are you sure you can handle this many people in your house? Cleaning up is going to be pretty difficult." Mai asked after she could have sworn she heard some glass break.

"Well, I only have myself to blame since I volunteered to have the party at my place. Some people didn't even leave their shoes outside. I'm not too worried about it though since the entire team is staying behind to help with clean up." He replied scratching the back of his head with nervous laughter.

'Yeah, this guy doesn't have a care in the world.' Mai replied sarcastically to herself.

"Did you invite all of these people?" Michiru questioned further.

"Not exactly." Sota replied with another nervous laugh, and the two could have sworn they saw a bead of sweat come down his face.

"I really did want to see you here though." He replied to which Mai though was her queue.

"I think I hear Keiko calling me. I'll see you in a bit Michi." Mai called as she made her exit leaving the blushing teens in each other's company.

Mai was alone now, which was a difficult concept to understand in a house full of people. She didn't really feel like socializing since half of these people wouldn't be sober enough to remember her name. So instead she found herself a stool at the kitchen table to which she was content to sit and people watch. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before a boy stumbled his way into the kitchen and spotted her.

He smiled like he'd found some hidden treasure and made his way over to Mai with a bottle of beer in hand.

"Hey gorgeous." He slurred and sat down with her almost missing the stool completely.

"Hi." Mai said flatly already tired of this kid already

"What'dah yah doin' here all by yourself?" He investigated.

"I'm people watching." Mai replied shortly.

"Okay, I see. What'd yah observe?" He queried further.

"I'm surrounded by a lot of drunk people, loud music, and a very noisy boy." She replied dancing the line between rude and truthful.

'I can't just be mean to this guy, he hasn't done anything wrong.' Mai revealed to herself and sighed.

"Well well we clearly aren't see'in dah same thing?" He said looking at her and back toward the kitchen door.

"Really? What do you see?" Mai asked not bothering to conceal her curiosity.

"I see a room full'a people who're enjoying themselves with boos an bein' happy. Nothing wrong with that long as nobody getting' 'urt." He responded casually and Mai nodded her understanding. With that, he threw his head back and swallowed more beer.

"Don't you think you've had enough? " Mai asked looking at the bottle distastefully.

"I'm just drownin' ma sorrows. Think of it like dis. After you get 'urt and you ain't feelin' too good, you numb the pain with some meds. I'ma doin the same, jus' wit a different brand of meds." He explained and Mai struggled to follow his speech but understood overall.

"I guess, but once the liquor wears off, you'll still feel it. You aren't healing, if anything you're making it worse, don't you think? You'll have to drink more and more as your body gets accustomed to small amounts of alcohol. You'll drink yourself to an early grave, and worst of all you'll hurt the people around you doing it. You might even end up killing them too. Is all that worth feeling numb for a short amount of time?" Mai asked and the youth across from her looked at her and his half-lidded eyes grew wide at some sudden realization that Mai must have brought on.

'Clearly I'm projecting about my father. Why did I say that?' Mai scolded herself.

He rose from his spot nearly falling over when he did so and brought his bottle with him, and walked over to the sink. He leaned over the edge of it, and Mai braced herself for a disgusting outcome. Instead, she saw the boy take the bottle and empty the contents down the drain and ran the water to clear the last of the liquid.

"Yo, Taniyama, right? Your tha' orphan girl dats gotta work all the time, aren't yah?" He asked still looking into the sink.

"Um… Yes I am, but I would prefer to be called Mai." She responded hotly.

"How'd you deal wit your sorrows? I'm sure yah got enough of um." He asked and turned to face her, his right hand still held the edge of the sink. Mai was so surprised by this question she had to stop and truly think about its answer. When it finally struck her, she couldn't hold back the smile that graced her face.

"I have great friends that fill that sadness with new and great memories. They help me go forward and to continue moving in that direction. Even when I want to look back, they push me onward. Not to brag, but I'm pretty strong on my own, but with them, I can be invincible, you know." Mai twiddled her thumbs as a small smile grew to a goofy grin. The tipsy boy nodded his head in understanding and returned her smile.

"Thanks for adv-" He began, but bile rose quickly in his throat and he held his head over the sink and emptied out his guts.

"Ew."

The wind began to pick up again and Keiko did her best tame her possessed hair. She and Kasai stood just a ways outside of the house and remained in comfortable silence. It was a bit chilly, especially considering she was wearing a short skirt, and the sun had set a couple of hours ago. Keiko couldn't fight a visual shiver as she let her eyes wander sideways. She felt a single raindrop on her cheek and looked up at the sky.

'He always breaks this kind of silence by saying something super romantic, but he isn't smiling and we've already been out here for a while. Maybe he's waiting for me to prove myself to him. After all, he is always the one in our relationship who is extremely forward, thoughtful, and kind. I have to say something to him. I have to show him I care too.' Keiko thought to herself as she built up her resolve.

"Kasai." He was brought out of his daze and looked over at her with a blank expression that surprised her, but she continued none the less.

"You know when you first asked me out, I was very surprised. I mean you are so handsome and kind hearted I was certain that you must have a girlfriend. Or that you would never find someone who's shy like me attractive. Every time I doubt your love for me you prove me wrong, so this time I want to be the one to shower you with affection, okay? Because I really care about you and even though we've only been dating for a little over two months I can feel-" Keiko spoke but was interrupted by her companion.

"I want us to break up." Kasai spoke loud and clear, looking her straight in the eye. Keiko felt her heart drop into her stomach as she was completely blindsided by Kasai's comment. At first, she didn't know how to respond to that kind of blatant confession. All she could force herself to do was to mutter dumbly.

"W-Wh-What?" She whimpered.

"You heard me. I want to stop seeing you so I'm breaking up with you." He replied harshly as her whimper grew to a whine.

"H-have I done something? Are you bored of me? Because I c-can ch-change. I-I'll do better. I'll be better." She pleaded with him as she slowly reached her hand up to touch his face, but he smacked it away.

"To be honest I was never really interested in you, but I thought you would be able to occupy my interest for a while but you failed. You're quiet, you're boring, you're plain looking, and not very smart." He continued as more raindrops started to drizzle over them. Keiko felt her eyes begin to do the same as they watered more and more until her eyes finally spilled over and tears ran free.

"W-why? Why a-are you being so cruel? I thought… YOU SAID YOU LOVED ME? WAS IT ALL A LIE? A GAME?" She yelled angrily. Her sadness started to turn into anger, but more toward herself for being so easily manipulated.

"Yes, now leave. I don't want to see you anymore. Go home tramp." He finished and began to walk back into the house and shelter himself from the oncoming rain.

"But-" Keiko tried to explain, but Kasai turned around swiftly his eyes now reading fury.

"I SAID LEAVE! NOW!" He yelled and scared Keiko backward. With that, she turned and ran away crying. Keiko felt like her chest was going to cave in on itself. She never knew she could feel this terrible.

This hurt.

Right now, she didn't care about the rain, the party, or that bastard Kasai. She just wanted to be alone. She ran away from everything

with only her tears for company.

Mai handed her sickly companion a glass of water and a wet paper towel, and he was thankful for both. He wiped his mouth and then drank the water greedily.

"Mai!" Mai turned around to see Michiru and Sota entering the kitchen.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Mai asked Michiru looked a bit worried.

"It's starting to rain, we should probably grab Keiko and head out soon." Michiru said which led Mai to walk over to the kitchen window. The rain had indeed started to come down.

"Crap I didn't bring an umbrella!" Mai whined to Michiru who reached into her bag and pulled out two purse sized umbrellas.

"Am I great or am I great?" Michiru joked and handed one over to Mai who hugged her and took the umbrella graciously.

"Whoa, ladies. What kind of hosts would I be if I didn't at least walk you all to the train stop?" Sota said as he walked over to the kitchen closet and grabbed an umbrella.

"No, Sota. You have your hands full here at the house, you don't have to walk with us." Michiru said noticing that the front room was still deafeningly loud and crowded.

"No, please I insist. Hojo, come on let's walk with them." Sota said punching his ill-looking friend.

"I don't think that's a good idea. Your friend here just puked his brains out." Mai replied backing away from him as he stood up from the stool he was seated at.

"No I'm alright. The fresh air will do me some good." Hojo said finally speaking a bit clearer.

"Alright man, just don't puke on me. It'll totally ruin my game with the ladies." Sota joked.

"Oh shut up." Hojo replied quickly making the other three laugh.

She never knew anything could hurt this bad. Keiko never thought that she'd ever do anything in her entire life to warrant someone to break her heart like this. She felt so many things that it was hard to discern which emotion was the strongest. It wasn't even like she could feel parts of each; Keiko felt each one of these emotions in full force.

Sadness

Anger

Embarrassment

Hurt

Self-pity

Confusion

Wounded

Miserable

Heartbroken

For a while, she believed Kasai's love and kindness toward her to be too good to be true, and she turned out to be right. He was nothing but a lying asshole, and she didn't want anything to do with him. She was so warped by her emotions that she forgot the rain, and didn't even notice the man approach the alleyway she'd sat in.

"Um… excuse me miss? Are you okay? Should I call for some help?" He questioned and brought Keiko out of her sad stupor.

"Oh no. I'm not hurt, sorry to worry you. I just wanted to be alone." She said as she stood up and dusted off her skirt.

'I must look like a wet dog. Scratch that, a sad puppy.' Keiko joked with herself but didn't have it in her to bother laughing. For the first time, Keiko noted the stranger's appearance, and it made her shiver. He was definitely homeless from the way his clothing appeared, and he too was without an umbrella. None of this was what unsettled her though. It was the false smile he wore. It wasn't even the kind of false smile that anyone would use in day to day. No. This smile read something entirely different as the small alleyway's dim light illuminated it.

Insanity.

'He looks like he smiling at some kind of joke I don't know about. I don't trust this man.' Keiko decided as she back away.

The four pushed through the crowd getting some distasteful remarks and salty looks in the process. Once they were able to get through and make it to the front room, they were surprised to see Kasai there on the ground sulking. His eyes were rimmed red as if he'd just been crying, and he looked up at them pitifully.

"Hey Ka- Whoa, what's wrong? Where's Keiko?" Mai asked as she kneeled down next to him and looked him in the eyes.

"S-she broke up with me. She just broke up with me. Just like that." He said his voice sounding hopelessly lost.

"What? That's impossible. I thought she really liked you what happened? What did you do?" Michiru yelled and grabbed his collar.

"Whoa Michi! Relax. Yelling isn't going to get us anywhere. Do you know where she is? I'm sure Keiko will straighten all of this out." Mai reasoned as she put on her shoes the others followed suit.

"I left her in the front of the house and didn't look back. I haven't moved from here since it started raining. Who knows, she could be inside or still out front." Kasai said getting up as Mai opened the door and rain continued, only a bit harder than a drizzle. Hojo grabbed her umbrella and held it over the two of them as they stepped out. Sota and Michuru did the same and Kasai pulled up the rear. Once they passed the front gate Mai looked left and right up the street and Keiko was nowhere to be seen.

'Oh crap, she isn't here. Where is Keiko?' Mai thought frantically.

"Guys, I have a really bad feeling about this." Mai said aloud as she stepped out from under the umbrella.

"KEIKO!" Mai screamed at the top of her lungs.

"KEIKO!" Michiru followed suit. Soon they were all calling out to her and heard nothing.

"Try her cellphone." Sota suggested and Michiru nodded and pulled out her phone and dialed.

RING

RING

RING

RING

RING

RING

RING

Hello you've rece-

Michiru hung up and tried once more, and yet again it rang until it reached voicemail. The others waited in excruciating silence as

Michiru called for the third time.

"KEIKO, PLEASE ANSWER WHERE ARE YOU?" Mai yelled again getting desperate.

"KEIKO!" Hojo yelled.

"We have to start looking for her we're wasting time just standing around. How about we split up and meet back here in fifteen minutes. Hojo and Kasai, come with me. Michi try the other side of the street with Sota. Come on guys." Mai said as she unfastened the key around her neck and felt the initial influx of sensory overload. She could feel herself tilt a little bit, but urged her body to keep going for her missing friend.

'Okay, Mai. You know Keiko's aura. You just have to find her it.' Mai thought thankful that at night there were very few people on the streets. She could feel two presences' moving along with her, one was frantic, and the other was disturbingly calm. Regardless she knew that neither was Keiko, so she pressed on.

'I can feel two moving away from us quickly, but I can tell one of them is Michiru so the other must be Sota. Shit, why can't I find her!' Mai could feel panic rising in her as she pushed her hair from her face and checked her surrounds again.

'I'm too panicked. I need to calm down. Remember Mai this is what you trained for all those hours to do. You may not be Oliver Davis, but you can still do this.' Mai stopped running and settled her breathing until she could at least drown out everything.

Focus

Focus

Come on…

Then abruptly Mai could feel her. Like lighting a match in a room full of darkness it appeared before her. Keiko's aura was a light bluish tint and usually very calm and gentle, but right now it was wild desperate, full of fear, and petrified.

'Something is very wrong.' Mai, surprising the two men behind her, swiftly took of sprinting around the street corner and out of site.

"Mai! Wait for us!" Hojo called after her.

Hojo was still feeling weak from the amount of drinking he'd done. He was grateful with the fact that he'd already thrown up, otherwise it definitely would have come up now.

Mai could feel just how close she was and knew the others could catch up. Just as Mai reached the alleyway it was dimly lit, and not that easy to see. She squinted and spotted two figures; one was standing and the other lying on the ground, motionless.

Everything in her was telling her to run away. The second aura in the alley was twisted with something that made her taste iron.

But she couldn't leave.

Even as her legs began to shake and her instincts screamed at her to back away. She couldn't. Keiko was here in this alley and she wasn't leaving without her.

"Keiko! Are you okay?" She yelled as she stepped forward and the other person turned around revealing the face a blood-soaked man.

He turned and began running toward Mai and she stumbled backward.

Her legs proved stronger than she expected and Mai righted herself, but not before letting out a blood-curdling scream. The man raised a knife over her that Mai very narrowly dodged. She backed away again and the man lunged again, but this time was the knife was knocked out of his hand by Kasai.

Mai looked at the crazed man's face and saw her father all over again.

'No. This is real. I cannot have a panic attack right now.' Mai breathed out, grateful for Kasai's quickness.

The man was fast though and punched Kasai in the face. Luckily, Hojo caught up quickly enough to punch him in the jaw, and he fell without any more fight.

The three watched his unmoving body, and all three of them breathing heavily as they stood over him.

"Who the hell was that?" Hojo asked trying to catch his breath, but as he looked up to question Mai she had already run back down the alley and kneeled over something on the ground.

"Oh OH MY GOD! KEIKO, YOU'RE BLEEDING! CALL AND AMBULANCE!" Mai screamed and saw the large stab wound that was now gushing blood. Remembering what Ayako told her about applying pressure to the wound. She could hear the boys coming up behind her and cursing loudly.

'So much blood. I don't know how to stop it.' Mai could feel tears erupting from her eyes and her vision began to blur, but she continued applying pressure to the wound.

"Mai… is that you?" Keiko spoke her voice was raspy and barely there.

"Please, don't speak. The ambulance is coming. You're going to make it." Mai said barely staying composed as blood seeped through her fingers from the wound. The cut was so much larger than what her hands could hold pressure against.

"Mai ple-ease , l-l—lis—en to me." Keiko pleaded.

"No! Don't say it. You can do this! Please!" Mai begged in return, but Keiko continued.

"Te-ll my par-ents I –I-I love em' , and my lit-sis that she- is -gon-a be okay –ith out me." Keiko struggled to speak and blood started to come out of her mouth.

"STOP IT! YOU AREN'T LEAVING US. YOU'RE STAYING!" Mai yelled forgetting her composure and letting her emotions run rampant.

"Be br-ave." And just like that her chest ceased to rise, her eyes ceased to close, and she grew cold like the merciless rain that was pounding on top of them all.

"Keiko… wake up. Please, no. No. No. No. No. Don't please." Mai begged as she lifted her blood-soaked hands and pulled her into her lap and held her closely. She rocked back and forth hoping and praying that her limp arms would reach up and grab her back.

She didn't want to believe that they never could hug her again. Everything hurt now, and that night in the rain she'd never felt more alone.

That was the night she'd been forced to say goodbye to Keiko. Her best friend of many years and in more ways her sister. A girl who helped her find Naru and discover the people she called her family. A person who befriended her when she used to be cruel and least deserved it. The girl who was there when her mom died, and whose family took her in for a short time. She would never, no, could never forget her.

"Goodbye Keiko." Mai whispered and let sadness rack her body and the sound of sirens sounded in the distance.

Hey guys. I've been up late a couple nights trying to perfect this chapter. Sorry for any spelling errors that you see. Most likely because I've read it too many times. Anyway I hope you enjoyed how cruel I was to you this chapter, and will try my best to keep the surprises coming. Thanks again to all the Reviews, Follows, and Fav. They mean a lot and keep me going when the writing gets tough. See you guys next time.