Mai Gets Hurt?
Mai and Kuro had just finished taking the temperature readings, so they decided to walk back to Kazuya. While they were walking, she heard a creak, it was a small one at first, but then it became louder, making her pause in her footsteps. Her head tilted up and saw a dangerous piece of wood that was barely hanging on.
It could easily injure or kill someone if it fell.
And it did…
It began to fall, Kurobara's eyes widened, she watched it in slow-mo. It was like the whole world turned blue for a moment. "Mai" She yelled out, it was falling right on top of her friend. Mai looked upwards, seeing what made Kuro alarmed. Mai breath hitched in horror.
"Watch out" she called out again, but she knew Mai would not be able to get out of the way in time, she had no choice. She knew this; she had to save her friend from any potential injuries. Her body tensed before it became relaxed, letting a shaky breath, Her fingers are clenched into a fist.
Her body glowed, as her Aura flowed around her, manfisting a beautiful blue Aura. It got brighter, as she held her breath.
Before the splinter hit Mai, at the last minute, Kurobara halted it. Their eyes were both the colour blue; it was flecked with orange. Anyone who could have walked down here would know that she was an Esper. That terrified her but not as terrifying as the prospect of her friend getting seriously injured.
The brunette had her eyes clenched in panic, she didn't see what her friend was doing. She was too absorbed into thinking that she was going to die. It was a very sharp looking splinter, and it scared her that she was going to be injured.
Kurobara rushed over to her friend, kneeling down to her frightened form. She was shaking. "Mai-chan" She started, voicing coming out in alarm and concern. "Are you okay?" She added after, her hands touching her shoulder.
"You can open your eyes now." She spoke up, her voice cracking, in worry and hysteria. She moved her hands over her shoulders, checking if they had any injuries. While this was going on, Mai's eyes began to open, flinching slightly. Her brown chestnut eyes flood open. She saw Kurobara panicking at first, showing apparent worry on her expression.
Mai then noticed a very prominent blue glow, just above her head, Mai being the curious person she is looks up. In shock, she saw a blue phosphorescent barrier guarding her head. It felt warm; she noted that the splinter that targeted her was still above her, where the splinter was touching turned orange.
The Splinter had a sickly blue aura around it, halting its movement. Making it hover just enough to touch the barrier, there was a smell. A musty burning smell, It made it seem that it was burning the wood. This didn't seem to be helping the situation, making her more nervous.
So of course, her being frightened caused her to jump out of the way, with haste and shock. Kurobara glanced at her in worry, noticing her body shaking and trembling even more than before. It just made Kuro become extremely concerned. Did she scare her? Was she frightened of her now? Kurobara's mind spiralled at her friend's reaction.
Kuro opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She had no idea how to speak to her about what she saw. She watched keenly as she looked at her again, back and forth to the barrier and her form. Mai knew she had just saved her, hindering the splinter from touching her. She could clearly see that it was her who helped her by the look in her eyes.
The ravenette looked at Mai, with her brightly glowing eyes. Head tilting in worry and concern for her friend. Before she could say anything, she tenderly moved the dangerous sharp object away from Mai's head. She was placing it on the floor with a clanged. Kurobara gave her a tired smile, showing she was exhausted.
Kuro made a face; her mouth pulled into a sharp sorrowful frown. Her eyes still glowing ominously. She absolutely distasted using her abilities, she saw them as a fickle curse that she was imprinted with, but right now she saw them as a saving grace if she hadn't had them Mai would have been deeply hurt and that scared her.
Kurobara's eyes reverted to her natural eye colour; she began to open her soft lips to speak, "Mai-chan? Are you alright" she spoke, worry laced into her voice. "Do you have any injuries?" She questioned, still checking for any injuries she hadn't foreseen.
The only response Mai gave her was an opened mouth, gaping at what she saw happen, her eyes seeing wide with awe and disbelief. Her mouth opened and repeatedly closed, barely being able to make a sound before long Mai shouted in shock. "Ehhh?!"
She was shocked, at her friend's display of power, was it telekinesis? She had no idea, The ravenette ignored her prying eyes, still checking if she was hurt in any way. Kuro let out a sigh, realizing she was, in fact, alright, having no injuries present on her body. "Well, You seem fine… No injuries, no cuts or scrapes," She said, letting another sigh out.
They gave Mai a small tender smile, showing she cared. "Good, I am glad you are safe. You gave me a scare." Chuckling anxiously, "Sorry, for my unexpected magic show." She jokingly added, giving her a tight, tense expression.
Kurobara gave another hollow anxious chuckle, mouth twitching into a nervous crooked smile. What could she say to make everything go back to normal? She just showed something she had kept hidden for a long time, never expecting to ever use them again. Her hands become sweaty and slightly twitchy. She was physically showing her anxiety about her friend knowing.
She bowed down, placing her shakey hand out for Mai to grab hold on to. She did exactly that, feeling her soft smooth and sweaty hand. Letting it go as she was pulled up with Kuro's strength. "Kuro-san y-you have…" Mai blurted out, in complete shock. Kurobara placed her hand onto her mouth.
She was essentially interrupting her secret out, for anyone to hear. She was secretly glad that Kazuya hadn't set up all of the equipment; otherwise, her secret would be out sooner than she wanted. Kuro moved her hand away from her friend's mouth. A silent breath tore out of her throat.
Right at this second, her mind was going whizzing about, almost too fast for her to cope as thoughts flooded her ever-changing mind. She was wondering how she could explain it to her — taking a deep breath, readying herself. She spoke out, "Yes… Mai, I have Psychic abilities, truthfully I hadn't wanted you to see them, but what could have I done? You were in danger." She paused, thinking what else she could say.
"It's not that I didn't trust you, please don't take it in that way. It's just something; I don't like people knowing, I like keeping it to myself. Now… Would you mind keeping this a secret, Mai-chan? Do not say a word about this particular Shibuya-san. Please… Promise me." Kuro tried to explain, speaking with honesty and truth, looking In Mai's eyes with scary determination and trust.
Mai stares right into her heterochromia eyes, feeling unsettled and saddened. She couldn't help but feel a little upset at not knowing about this, but she knew Kurobara had reasons why. They have always been a private person, even with her. But at least, at this moment, she showed that she trusted her enough to keep this secret.
She was happy to know something private about her friend finally. Mai also felt a sense of gratitude to her for saving her life. So with this thought and feelings in mind, she gave Kuro a soft, friendly smile. Nodding gently, "I promise Kuro-san… And Ummm… Thank you for saving me from being injured."
They gave her a sweet smile, chuckling tenderly. Her hand shot up to her chestnut brown hair and began to ruffle it. She was making her pout childishly. " Come on; We must head off. It's time to see Mr grumpy."
Mai sweat dropped at her words, finding it comically. Watching Kurobara's back as she walked with admiration. Happy that she had met such a person in her life.
(Time Skip)
"Ah, Shibuya-san~ We have completed our order," Kuro spoke confidently, with an edge of playfulness. Giving him a playful and almost flirty smile, being confident and bold. One of her most attractive traits, Mai thought. But she saw through her little mask she had put on many times.
She was, in fact, exhausted, that much was clear. Mai didn't know why Lack of sleep, but Kurobara knew full well why. She had used her abilities, which in itself is tiring; she also had trouble sleeping. It could be very dangerous to use her abilities if she wasn't careful; using them when she was tired was a risky thing to do.
Kurobara marched right up to him, clenching her fingers on the clipboard. Giving him a playful smile, both eyes lighting up with mischief, pressing the clipboard to his chest before giving him a tense smile " You're welcome by the way… I made sure that Mai and I did the temperature of every single room. Nothing unusual, everything is the way it's meant to be. Take a look" She spoke, maintaining her smile.
Kazuya gave them a nod and began to look through the clipboard, glancing at the data they had collected while making rounds. Kurobara did most of the work, but that did not mean that Mai didn't help, she was always helpful. She saw Kazuya's beautiful indigo eyes roll at her previous remark.
"Nothing unusual… the temperature isn't lower in any particular area; it's just as you said Akamia-san." He said thoughtfully, making Kurobara nod while Mai just looked on in confusion at his statement.
"Then, that means there are no spirits here?" Mai proposed, hurling the digital thermometer playfully into the air. Kuro gently swayed her head, letting out a sharp annoyed breath. "Not necessarily Mai-chan, Just because there is no difference in the temperature doesn't mean that there are no spirits here." She explained in a soft tone.
"Huh? What do you mean?" Mai questioned.
Kurobara's eyes followed the thermometer as Mai annoyingly swung it up and down, she glared in irritation, her eyes began to twitch, mouth pulled into an angled frown. Mai, being distracted, threw it carelessly into the air becoming too high for her to catch. She became panicked, realizing that she may break it and cause another situation with Kazuya.
Kurobara let out a small groan at her friend's reckless behaviour, quickly before it crashed and broke onto the ground, she bent down, leaned her arm out and expertly caught it with fast reflexes. Once she had it clenched into her fingers, she straightened her posture, before turning to her brunette friends.
"Mai-chan, don't you know by now not to play with expensive equipment… Don't recklessly throw it around" She commented softly, letting out a sigh, still frowning. Her eyes turned to the direction of Kazuya who seemed to be at this moment, glaring at Mai. He must be thinking about how childish and reckless Mai was.
Kazuya looked like he was about to scold Mai, so Kurobara decided to interrupt him. "To answer your question, ghosts can be awfully shy, They are just like people, and they were people. I don't really blame them for being shy." She explained, her voice coming out into a very straightforward tone, having a little empathy towards the dead.
Kazuya, who was still scowling at Mai, spoke. "Right. It's normal for paranormal phenomena to stop temporarily when an outsider comes in." showing her that he had agreed with her thought process. "At any rate, this isn't helping us gather information." he later added. Kurobara chuckled comically at his expression towards her friend. Knowing he was referring to Mai's unhelpful behaviour.
Despite finding it comical, she rolled her heterochromia eyes; she was starting to get really impatient with him and his attitude to her and her friend. She was absolutely tired from using her Abilities earlier, so she was probably more irritable than she was in the morning.
(After Many hours of Lifting Equipment)
"—Ouch. Ah. Oh…" Mai groaned out loudly; she was not used to lifting heavy equipment. She wasn't some sort of body builder or a builder. Kurobara looked over to her friend; concern flashed into her eyes as she moved over to her. "Mai-chan?" She started, "Are you alright? Is your arm bothering you? Let me take a look at your arm." Kuro added, she assumed that she had hurt herself, pulling a muscle, or even a sprained arm.
Mai lifted her arm upwards, wincing as a flash of pain coursed through her achy arm. Kurobara eyes darted, looking for any bruising or swelling, that might indicate a strain or sprain. She could see that Mai moved it without any difficulty, though she did see Mai's eyes flash with a slight pain. She took a deep breath and exhaled, chest following her. "You are going to be fine, your arm isn't sprained or broken but you do have a strain, so you pulled a muscle, on accident. "
Kuro's eyes drifted to Naru's, giving him a sharp glare. She was upset that he didn't let her off seeing as she was not used to this sort of work, and that she got injured. Naru almost groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, deciding to let Kuro and Mai go home. "You can go home now." He announced, his voice becoming cold. Mai's eyes twitch in irritation at his carless words.
"You don't look Psychic." Mai voiced out, making both Kurobara and Kazuya pausing in their staring contest. They could not help but find this quite annoying. It was always confused so much, he is a Ghost Hunter not Psychic, although that could be possible. But before she could have any say, Naru interrupted them, indigo eyes twitching in irritation. "Ghost Hunter." Naru corrected her. "Don't confuse me with psychics."
Her best friend still looked very confused, making eye contact with Kurobara while speaking out "The same thing…" They huff in amusement, letting out a small chuckle as they swayed their head. Kurobara decided it was best not to correct her, she knew how tired her friend was by their small expressions they naively wore on Mai's face. "I'll be going home." Mai's voice came out exhausted and bitter.
"Mai-chan, I can take you home you know, all you have to do is-" She paused. Eyes glancing down at Mai's limping legs. She could barely walk like that, they snapped their head at Kazuya once again, glaring at him before glancing back at her friend, concern swirled in her multi-coloured orbs. "Okay, I am not taking no for an answer, I am going to call you a Taxi." Mai blinked at her before sighing at her overly worrying behaviour. "Eh, No Kuro-san I'll be fine"
Mai tried shaking it off, waving her hand slightly, but Kuro was not having it. They gave her a look one saying 'I am going to and that's final' and like that she pulled out her phone and began to dial a Taxi for her friend. They waited for a while for them to pick up, then finally she heard the Taxi service answer "Hey how may we help?" There in her ears was an assumedly young males voice on the phone.
"I would like to get a Taxi for my friend." She responded, holding her phone against her ear. The male pauses for a moment before replying back "I see, where do you want me to drop your friend off?" Kuro quietly told the man where to drop Mai off.
Mai let out a sigh while they were on the phone, observing her friend as they nodded and told them where they are at the moment. After a couple of minutes, Kurobara finally got off the phone, giving them a smug smirk.
"There you go, all sorted Mai-chan. They should be here in approximately 15 minutes, that will be enough time to address your injuries." Her voice came out, laced with exhaustion and slight worry. Kurobara grabs hold of her backpack and opens it. They bring out a small compact medical box.
Kazuya rolled his eyes at them "Well I want you both here tomorrow after school." He stated, not showing any care about Mai's injuries, making the ravenette irked at him. "Wait. You are not going anywhere until I speak to you." She almost hisses out.
Kuro's hands grab hold of some bandages and with the utmost care, they grab hold of their injured friend, Mai chestnut eyes flinching as she feels her friend's fingers on their delicate skin. They pulled up the sleeve of the shirt up. With gentle expertise, they tenderly wrapped her injured arm with a bandage. The brunette let out a small sigh, shivering as it was placed onto her skin. The fabric of the bandages was cold to the touch. Finally, after finishing wrapping Mai up the Taxi came. Right on time…
Kurobara let a smile slip onto her face, placing her hand onto Mai's soft brown hair. Ruffling it slightly. "Well Mai-chan" she began "Your ride is here, off you go" Her friend gave her a thankful smile as she limped slowly over to the Taxi. While they got in, the ravenette travelled to the side of their window and passed 735 yen to the Taxi driver. Paying for Mai's fair, knowing full well that they hated her paying stuff for them.
As of right now, she could see faintly that they were glaring right at her but she smirked merely as the Taxi took off.
Kurobara saw Kazuya waiting for her so she headed into his direction with a small frown. "Do you want me to drive you home? Or… Maybe you want to go and visit your assistant Lin-san?" She questioned, knowing he couldn't drive his fan due to his age. It was the reason why she didn't take Mai home with her own ride. He sighed out in annoyance, they disliked people looking down on him. It irked him that he couldn't drive but needed someone else to drive him.
"I was going to leave the Van here for the night and get a Taxi after I visited the hospital" They exhaled in amusement, knowing what he was trying to do… he was trying to get rid off her but she isn't a fangirl who falls for looks, she won't comply with him. So with that, she sent him a determined smile.
"Oh how fortunate, I want to visit LIn-san too, so since you are also going to visit him how about I tag along…" Kazuya glared at her for a couple of moments, scowling at her with furrowed eyebrows but her look did not deter. "Fine… give me a couple of minutes" They chuckled at his small sigh of defeat.
(Five minutes Later~)
They were now both walking, it was completely silent between them, it was so silent that you could hear a metaphorical pin drop. They were quite close to each other's bodies. Kazuya was about to say something, his mouth parted only to be interrupted by her, "So…" She began, glancing around "I got a question on my mind, I thought I would just come out and ask you. Shibuya-san."
Kazuya pinched the bridge of his nose as he exhaled a loud sigh "It better not be a stupid question."
Kurobara huffed out, shaking her head as her mixed eyes observed him. "Hey I would watch your tone, I actually have been helpful today and you can not deny that can you? Since I was the one who helped Mai by answering most of her questions."
She had a point, Kazuya thought, irritation gleamed in his eyes. "Fine, ask your question." Their mouth tugged upwards into a smug smirk, knowing she had just won. "Shibuya-san… English or American?" She blurted out making the teen beside her flinch at the suddenness of her question, his normally narrowed eyes were widened. "Although… Now that I think about it, I can not see you being American no offence of course."
Kazuya was shocked that she figured it out in such a short period of time but instead of denying or ignoring her, he decided to answer her instead. "English... How did you know?" Kurobara merely let out a chuckle, glad to finally get an answer to the question that has been bothering her for some time. With a smug smirk she opened her mouth "Ah, I knew it… English huh? Well looks like I was right to think of you being British." They replied, her tone came out slightly cynical but it was rich with sweetness.
It has been a while since she has used her English tongue, what surprised Kazuya the most was that she had no accent. It seemed normal… sounded like… well like they were British themselves.
They couldn't help but chuckle at herself, loving being in the right about things and the one thing that made it all the more worthwhile was his shocked expression, especially after hearing her speak fluent English.
"To be honest, Shibuya-san, It was not hard to figure it out, you left quite a lot of clues… For one you didn't know the age difference when acquiring a driver's license, I know for a fact that you got to be at least 17 when driving in England." She started. "Oh… and another thing, you wrote all of your notes in English which I found peculiar, as I am pretty sure that Japanese don't take the time to write all of their notes in English. I at least don't do that and you didn't even know a common phrase in Japan."
Kazuya switched over to his native language, he admitted to himself that he was impressed. "I am surprised you figured it out so easily…" They looked proud of themselves as she chuckled. "Well Shibuya-san you seem like a person who would underestimate everyone's ability to conceive knowledge, So I am not surprised"
Kazuya rolled his indigo blue eyes at their words. "What about you" He questioned, eyes observing her expression as both of them conversed in English. Kurobara could not help but sigh at his rich accent, it was… hard to admit but it was extremely hot to hear him speak in English. So much so that shivers crawl along her spine, that's how godly his voice sounds.
Mentally shaking her head at herself, their eyebrows raised at his question. "What about me?" They asked in confusion, her tone came out gentle. There was no accent to her English words if a Japanese person would hear her talk they would probably think she has an English accent but not many would question it.
He gave her a 'Are you kidding me?' look "I am asking if you are also English like I am?" He reaffirmed, observing her closely, hoping to get a reaction he needed. The ravenette, blinked, eyes wide for a moment before placing her hand on their waste, pausing to look at him. "No… I am not English I am Japanese. I live here and I was raised here."
Kazuya doubted her, letting a smirk slip onto his lips. "Oh?" He spoke scrutinising her and what she had just said. Kurobara furrowed her eyebrows, at his tone. "What?" they sighed out, not liking the tone he was using. "Well… Kurobara, I do believe that you are lying to me. You look more British than Japanese, you speak perfect English with no accent, so I can not help but think you are lying.
Kurobara mouth parted, a shaky breath crawled out of her throat, their irises glare down at him. "Believe it or not Shibuya-san, I do not care. I know for a fact That I am a pure Japanese person.." They counter-argued, now irked. Kazuya gazed at her sceptically "Okay if you are Japanese which I doubt, tell me where did you study English from?"
The ravenette let out a huff. "I obviously learnt it myself, you moron. If you must know I learnt English at a young age because I actually enjoy learning languages… What about you? Shibuya-san?" He was beginning to get impatient and angry, no matter what he asks, she was giving him vague answers. They were not giving the truth he wanted to hear.
Kazuya's eyebrows arched upwards "What are you talking about? You already know I am from England?" Kurobara swayed her head in amusement, mouth curling into a dangerous smirk. She has him… They knew what to say. "Well if I may say but clearly Shibuya Kazuya isn't your true name since you admitted to me that you are from England." Naru was now furious, a sharp growl erupted from his throat, both now looking at each with anger.
"I don't know what you are talking about?" But instead of having the desired effect, Kurobara smirked at him, noticing his tone right away. She now knows that he has a secret that he doesn't want anyone to learn and find out about. It was clear from the way he glared at her and the tense body language he was showing her. "Oh… I very much doubt that… 'Kazuya' You are clearly hiding something… are you not?"
"I could say the same thing for you Akamia-san… don't test me, I know you are hiding things… I don't know what it is but I want to know what you are hiding and I will find out." the corners of their mouths twitched, she both hated and loved the cold bad boy attitude he was showing her but she needed to focus on the much more important stuff.
Old Author Note;
hey, guys sorry for not uploading earlier I had to rewrite most of this chapter cause grammar but anywho I hoped you enjoyed this chapter.
Chapter Remade On; 17th of May 2020.
Word Count; 4000+ Words
Updated Author Note;
Little Sunflower here, finally I have remade an older chapter, man this took really long to finish remaking. There were a lot of mistakes which I apologize for, there are probably still mistakes but I will recheck them again later.
BOLD-English
