Yo! Apparently I posted this an hour before my law exam. Most people would have been doing last minute cramming and here I was updating a fanfic. This shit is why I was crap in school. Don't be like I was. Study for your exams, kids. Seriously. Thank you to all readers so far!
The rest of the day went by rather uneventfully with little happening with both the team and the spirits in the house. Naru and Mai were asked about what they'd been up to and, after a bit of hesitating, Mai filled them in on what Naru had told her and the brief conversation she'd had with Akira-with her father.
"Ack!"
Bou-san yanked Mai into such a tight hug that Mai wondered if she had just broken a rib or two. "Bou-saaaan!"
"I think you're hurting her, Takigawa-san," said John, who seemed to have noticed Mai's pain, although he was smiling at the sight of them.
The monk realized what he was doing and loosened his grip. "Sorry, sorry! It's just-"
Mai smiled, understanding. "It's alright, don't worry. It's fine." They all knew she wasn't just talking about the hug.
But they fell silent after that, everyone losing themselves in their own thoughts and activities. The case was on their minds of course, but the longer the silence went on for, the more uneasy Mai found herself becoming. Their team was busy thinking, but what were the spirits doing? Why were they being just as quiet?
Mai didn't like it at all. She couldn't possibly say why, but to her, it felt like something was going to happen soon. Something major. Something bad. Very bad.
The silence from earlier was non-existent during dinner that night. The team sat together in the dining room as they ate, listening to Mai recount something that had occurred to her friends some time ago.
"-so Michiru pretends to be scared and starts trembling, and then she screams and points behind Keiko and goes, 'It's b-b-behind you!' And then Keiko looks over, cause now she's scared too and-"
Mai went on with her story of the time Michiru had played a ghostly prank on Keiko. It was actually quite funny, which explained why Bou-san, Yasuhara, and Madoka were choking on both their food and their laughs, while tears of mirth steamed down their cheeks. John and Ayako were laughing too, but were being a bit more polite about it.
In fact, this anecdote was so funny that it even managed to draw a deep chuckle out of the always stoic Lin, which was certainly more than a little surprising. Narcissistic Naru was the only one who remained completely and utterly unfazed though, which wasn't exactly odd or anything.
"Well you all seem like you're having fun," came a voice from the doorway.
They greeted Akira cheerfully and soon enough, he had joined them at the table. Pretty soon, they were all enjoying themselves once more, even with the new addition, though they were careful not to say anything about their current case.
Akira and Mai were quite similar, the team soon realized. Both were kind, cheerful, and fun to be around. They got along very easily, though considering they were father and daughter, even though he didn't know it, it wasn't all that unexpected. Even some of their mannerisms were the same. It was actually somewhat fascinating.
Akira was politely interested in what they did and was soon telling them about the paranormal events he had experienced as a child back in his old home.
Sitting with him now, it was hard to believe that Yaoshima Akira was going to be dead by the end of the week…
That's it for now. Looking forward to reviews! Laterz!