Ok, I know I took forever to update, but you know, life happens. What am I supposed to do? I can't put it on hold! I'm only fifteen! I'm not old enough or skilled enough to do something that.
I am the world's Worst multitasker. Believe me, I would know. ::sweatdrops::
So anyway, this chapter my be short because today, we have a two hour delay for school, but I'm not planning on going. And I will also be updating my other fics so yeah. And to top it all off, my brother is home, and I'm going to need to bribe him to keep quiet about me skipping to update for you people. LOL. Dontcha just love me? (And it also occurred to me that I have been getting someone's name wrong. It's not "Asako" but "Ayako". One of my reviewers also pointer it out to me. Thank you Yoshikuni Asuka. It was very nice of you o-o. In recognition of your niceness, I'll be using your username for a character in this story. I hope it's alright that I didn't ask you...)
Disclaimer: Here it is. You are reading it. Moving on.
Chapter four: It begins
It occurred to Naru that he should probably call first, and let Mai know that they were coming over, but Naru didn't see why he should have to. Mai stopped coming to work without any notice (ok, she DID give him notice by asking permission, but he didn't actually think she'd do it regardless) so he is just repaying the favor. Dressed in a black turtle neck (seeing as how it was winter and everything), black suit pants and a long black coat (nothing new there) he made his way calmly into the office building that was in control of the apartment complex.
"Yes, may I help you gentlemen?" asked a dark haired woman as she walked out of a room from the side. Naru nodded.
"My name is Shibuya Kazuya. I'm the president of SPR. This is my assistant, Lin." he stated cooly. The woman tilted her head to the side with a smile plastered on her face, making her confusion obvious to the two men in front of her."
"SPR?" she questioned. Naru nodded.
"Shibuya Psychic Research. We were called a few days ago regarding a seemingly unnatural phenomenon in one of the apartments." he stated. The woman continued smiling at them, and the her eyes widened when she realized who they were.
"Oh yes! Yes, that's right. I'm sorry I forgot. There's just been so much going on. My name is Yoshikuni Asuka. I'm head of the Matreyu Apartment Complex here. Yes, I did call you as a suggestion from some residents here, but I didn't think anything was too serious. Is there anything I can help you with? Would you like a tour?" she asked.
"No tour is necessary. If you could, can you show us to a room that we could have as a base?" he asked. Asuka blinked.
"A base?"
"Yes. A base." he wasn't going to explain it. Asuka blinked and then nodded.
"Well, there is the room is the far back. I never got around to using it because there was no need. Would that be fine?" she asked. Naru nodded.
"That's fine."
"Yo, Naru!" Takigawa called out as he entered the room. He was carrying one of the camera's that the group often used for such occasions. "This thing weighs a ton! Why aren't you helping?"
"Because I'm the one that's paying you." was Naru's blunt reply. Takigawa rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, where should I put this?" he asked. Naru nodded to the far side of the room.
"Over there." he said. Takigawa nodded and headed for that certain part of the room. Once he put the camera down (as carefully as possible thanks to a threat to have his head from Naru earlier that day) he straightened his shirt and turned to gaze at the moderately large room.
"This place is very spacious. Not like what we usually have." she said, and then looked at Naru, who was bent over some files on the table. He walked over to him and peered over his shoulder. "Is this information on the apartment occupant"
Naru nodded once he heard the serious tone in the Monk's voice. "Yes. Mai's information. Most of which we know already."
Takigawa's eyes scanned over the file, and then stopped when they came to one particular bit of information.
"Well, I can speak for everyone when I say, we most certainly didn't know this." he said, and pointed to a few sentences near the bottom of the paper. Naru was still stuck on the fact that the whole situation surrounded around mai (not that he cared much or anything) so he had yet to actually read the whole paper. His eyes rolled over the paper one more time, finally going past Mai's name, and down to where Takigawa's index finger indicated. His eyes narrowed as he read.
Taniyama Mai. The only occupant in the apartment. Moved in shortly after a traumatic situation involving the death of her whole family. Doesn't get many visitors, except one man in particular. Daijojin Zakuro. Frequently visits for unexplained reasons. Seems somewhat threatening.
"Well I can speak for everyone when I say I can most certainly agree with you." Naru said. Takigawa's eyes narrowed slightly.
"So...does she know we're here?" he asked. Naru was silent for a couple of beats.
"No," he said, "but she will soon enough."
After a while, everyone started showing up to begin their work. Most had heavy hearts about dealing with Mai. How would she react to seeing them all show up at her apartment? They didn't know what to expect. They knew she'd be shocked. She might even be angry. She might even be guilty. As time grew shorter, the discussed this.
"Well, of course she'd be shocked to see us! Everyone just miraculously showing up on her doorstep." Ayako aid. John nodded in agreement.
"Well, I was just thinking, that before anyone does anything, we should at least go and see her, you know, like undercover. Just to see how she's doing, and what the problem is..."
"We already know what the problem is." Naru said, entering the room. All eyes turned on him as he spoke.
"But you have a good idea, John. Thanks for volunteering." he said. John blinked at him.
"Uh, what? You're welcome?" He tilted his head to the side.
"Well," Takigawa said, slapping John on the back and a broad smile on his face, "Everyone know's you just walked right into that one."
So, as decided, one hour later, John made his way to Mai's apartment. Upon reaching it, he heard loud voices coming from the other side of the door, in which made him very curious, and slightly fearful for his friend.
"WHERE IS IT?!" demanded a voice that was unfamiliar to him. John raised an eyebrow before tentatively raising his hand to knock softly on the door.
"I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!? WHERE IS WHAT!?" screamed Mai's voice. John took a step back, a bit shocked. He knew my could get upset, but had never known her to yell back (with the minor exception of yelling at Naru when he allowed it). Feeling slightly more anxious then before, John knocked on the door a little louder as when he knocked before, no one heard him.
"ANSWER THE DAMN DOOR!" demanded the unfamiliar voice, which John now pegged as Male.
"I KNOW! I know! Good grief!" Mai said. The ka-chink ka-chink of the lock being unlocked was heard, and then the door was slowly pulled open.
Mai opened the door and gasped. There standing in front of her was John. Her eyes glanced over her shoulder, as if worried he might see something. John swallowed. He was nervous, of course. Having been chosen to speak with Mai was enough to think about. The fact that he was actually do it made his blood pump faster. He opened his mouth to speak.
"Mai," he said, "We need to ta–" he was cut off by a crashing sound coming from inside the apartment. Mai winced. This was not a good time to have a visitor. Especially a male visitor.
"Um, yeah, about that... can we do it some other time?" she asked. kind of tugging on the door. She was edging it closer to him. John blinked. She was trying to get him to leave.
"Well, it's important but–"
"Thanks!" she said, and the slammed the door in his face. On the other side of the door, he could hear Mai yelling.
"STOP IT! STOP IT! He's just a friend!"
"WHO IS HE REALLY!?" boomed an angry male voice.
"A FRIEND!" she screeched.
"LIES!" the male voice bellowed, and then there was a crash.
"...Mai?" John knocked on the door. He recieved no answer.
"Mai?" he began pounding on the door. "MAI!?"
The door opened with an eery creak, and before john appeared a man. He was taller than himself, Maybe as tall as Naru. He had dark brown hair and gray eyes that seemed to be looking into John's mind. He gulped.
"Uh, may I speak to Mai please?" John asked cautiously. The man before him smiled, and pulled the door closer to his side. His body was standing in the doorframe, blocking John's view of the inside.
"She's asleep right now. If you come back later–"
"Well, you see, it's very important. I work with her and we just got a new case that revolves around her, so I was sent to speak with her." John explained. Then he bit his lip thinking that it might have been a better idea to say nothing. The expression on the man's face was rather creepy. He had a toothy smile on his face that didn't reach his ears, and his eyes were slightly narrowed, as if warning John to stay away.
"Oh, well, I'm sorry but Mai is sleeping. Come back later." said the man, a bit to sharply. John blinked.
"Ah, of course. Mai needs her rest I suppose. Mai I ask who you are? I don't want to seem rude, but I am to report back to everyone who I spoke with." John lied.
"My name is Zakuro Daijojin. I am Mai's guardian. If you have any questions you'd like to ask Mai, I'm sure I'd be able to help out just as much." Zakuro said. John shook his head.
"N-no, that's alright. Um, I'll just come back later. When will mai be awake?"
"I don't know. This girl sleeps like a rock. You have a better chance of coming back tomorrow." Zakuro said. Before John could get a word out, Zakuro said a quick "Goodbye now" and retreated back inside the apartment.
"Uh, thank...you..." John said slowly as he began to walk away. As he made his way back to the base, thoughts, many thoughts, ran through his mind. But the most frequent one was:
The Daijojin person is bad news...
Very bad news indeed.
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RxR please...